Carla, Bia and Tiago and the Legend of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure
by VPVPVP
Summary: 3 years after DT, the Sanctuary de Amazon is threatened with losing its status as a protected reserve due to debt problems. But when Carla, Bia and Tiago hear of a legend that might save the sanctuary, they and some of their friends set off on a quest to find it. However, the group must deal with a variety of dangers, as well as a gang of nasty birds along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, everyone. VPVPVP here for a sequel to my previous story, Blu, Jupiter and Company's Return to Rio: Double Trouble (or DT for short). This time, the sequel will be focussing on the offspring of the main cast, among them Carla, Bia and Tiago (the two daughters and son of Blu and Jewel) and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil (the four chicks of Zephyr and Venus). The name of this story is going to be Carla, Bia and Tiago and the Legend of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure and the reason for the title will become clearer as the story goes on. This story is set three years after the events of DT, and the chicks of the main cast had all grown up though they are still quite young, but not far off from adolescents (except Triton and Indigo). Some of the chicks had become close that they are close to becoming boyfriend/girlfriend couples: Carla and Justin had become close, as had Tiago and Matilda, and Ganymede and Mimas despite the former being a scarlet macaw and the latter, a blue-and-gold macaw, and some more pairings will develop as the story progresses. Furthermore, Carla, Bia and Tiago have started up a circle of friends meeting every week as a form of discussion on the events occurring in their tribes and clans and also around them. But a new threat is about to reveal itself as time goes on. For now, life is happy in the Sanctuary de Amazon and the animal residents are all thriving.**

 **To add, this story will be different from the previous one. Rather than an underground Lost World, the legend will be instead situated in the rainforest in another country which we will see as the story goes on but some of the elements will remain. Okay, here we go!**

 **Chapter 1- prologue: three years on**

It had been three years since the poachers led by Lysandre had been arrested and dealt with, as well as the defeat of Nigel during Blu and company's first summer trip to Rio and not much has really changed in the Blu Bird Sanctuary and the Sanctuary de Amazon. Over the three years, a building, which was an animal hospital, had been built in the Sanctuary de Amazon while bird hides for tourists had been constructed around the sanctuary for tourists to hide and examine the wildlife. The construction of the animal hospital had been a relief for the ecologist groups in charge of looking after the sanctuary as it had saved the hassle of travelling all the way to Manaus with animals that had been seriously injured. Animals that had been treated of any injuries would then be released straight into the habitat without the need for transport back to the sanctuary which saved a lot of money on transport costs. Furthermore, entry into the protected nature reserve had become restricted which meant that fewer poachers had managed to get through only to be found out and caught. All ecologists working on the sanctuary had been required to get licences since the incident with Lysandre's group three years ago.

The macaw tribes and clans and all the non-tribe and clan birds living in their territories continued to live together peacefully but Carla, Bia and Tiago's generation had grown up over the years. The first-brood offspring of the main cast were now over three years old and many of them had entered pre-adolescence. Apart from their increase in size, their main features remained largely unchanged. Carla now resembled a miniature version of her great-aunt Mimi with the same chubby build and cerulean feathers though her crest, which greatly resembled her mother Jewel's, remained straight with a flick at the ends unlike Mimi's crest feathers which were curly. Carla's interest in music and dancing had blossomed over the years and the collection of songs on her Ipod had expanded. Bia had grown up into a miniature lookalike of her mother Jewel with the same slim build and body structure. However, her crest feathers remained flat against her head. Her interest in the sciences had blossomed like how Carla's interest in music had over the years. She now had her own collection of books in her room and had become more and more into nature, astronomy, physics and maths. Tiago, the youngest and only first-brood son of Blu and Jewel, had taken on a slender version of his father and his crest feathers still bore a strong resemblance to Jewel's crest but the feathers were messier. Tiago had become mature though sometimes he was still a bit immature and liked pranks. Though he was mischievous at times, he was not rambunctiously naughty unlike the majority of Rafael and Eva's kids and grandkids.

Mercury and Sapphire's daughters, Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette had also grown and were not far off from maturity as Lear's macaws matured at around age four. All three had grown into beautiful young female Lear's macaws. Phoebe and Jasmine's head feathers had grown longer but they still remained shorter than Sapphire's while Annette had taken on a more spitting-image of her father Mercury. Phoebe's interests had changed slightly and she had become more into music like Carla. However, her love for brightly coloured things remained. Jasmine's interest in music and singing had also blossomed and she even had her own Ipod much like Carla. Annette, meanwhile, had become an improved dancer though she was not keen on singing. The three sisters had become close friends with Carla, Bia and Tiago and the other main cast's first-brood offspring though they were closer to Carla than they were Bia and Tiago because of their interests in music and dancing.

Zephyr and Venus's four chicks, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil had also grown up into beautiful and handsome young pre-adolescent Spix macaws and had become close to Carla and her two siblings. Justin's appearance which strongly resembled his father Zephyr had become more pronounced and his love of music had also blossomed and he had become very close to Carla such that they were now a couple. Charlotte's appearance which greatly resembled her aunt Brisa had also become more pronounced. Her skills in soccer had developed and she was now a skilled soccer player. Matilda had taken on a more spitting-image of her mother Venus though her feathers remained a bright electric blue. Matilda's love of light-hearted mischief had also developed and she had become close to Tiago. The duo sometimes played pranks on the others such as occasionally scaring Blu with a spider whenever he slept in! Virgil had not changed much either but his electric blue feathers had grown a little brighter. He, in fact, bore a stronger resemblance to Venus's decaesed father Erico who had similar features except that his feathers were lush blue like Blu and Zephyr's feathers. Virgil did not show much interest in a particular subject though he was fascinated with nature. His crush on Bia had become more pronounced but Bia had paired up with another male chick named Raul, which Virgil was a little jealous of but decided to leave it.

Mars and Chiquitita's three sons, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre, had also grown up but again their main features had not changed much. Phobos and Deimos were smaller than the average pre-teen green-winged macaw height, a trait Chiquitita had when she was their age but Alexandre's height was around the average. All three sons bore a stronger resemblance to Mars but Phobos and Deimos had maintained their mother's slender build. Phobos and Deimos seemed to quite like light-hearted mischief while Alexandre had become a talented dancer.

Jupiter and Ruby's four first-brood chicks, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto had also grown larger but again, their features had pretty much remained the same, though Ganymede's height which he had inherited from Jupiter had become more obvious. He was now taller than his older sisters Io and Europa and his muscular build had developed. Callisto was tall but not as tall as Ganymede. Io's interest in music had developed and she was one of Carla's closest friends. Europa's interest in mischief had waned unlike Tiago and Matilda but she still liked playing the occasional pranks on her friends. Ganymede had become more and more into science and was like a scarlet macaw version of Bia. Like Bia he also had a collection of books in his family's hollow. Callisto had become more and more skilled in playing soccer. Her skills rivalled those of Charlotte though her style was more elegant.

Saturn and Orquidea's large brood, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus had also grown into pretty pre-adolescent blue-and-gold macaws. Again, their main features remained largely the same though Tethys, Dione and Rhea had become more and more like identical triplets and could only be told apart by their eye colours and length of feathers on their green foreheads. Tethys had the shortest and her eyes were magenta, Dione's feathers were medium and her eyes were pink and Rhea's feathers were longest and her eye colour was violet. Titan had grown taller than the other six and had likely inherited Saturn's rather unusual large size. The seven chicks' interests had also changed. Mimas had gone off soccer and had taken up art instead, Enceladus had developed a greater keenness on nature, especially bugs though he took care not to go anywhere near the venomous ones, Tethys, Dione and Rhea had become slightly mischievous though they remained mature, Titan still remained into art and music and Iapetus remained interested in singing and dancing though he now liked collecting stones which he started over a year ago.

Uranus and Esmeralda's five, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon also remained largely unchanged in appearance except for their increase in size. The four daughters now bore a stronger resemblance to their mother while Oberon looked more like his father. Oberon's four sisters looked so alike that they were sometimes called quads. They could be only told apart by the colours of their eyes like Tethys, Dione and Rhea. Miranda's eyes were emerald green, Ariel's were lime green, Umbriel's eyes were dark hunter green and Titania's were blue-green. Only Oberon stood out for the shade of certain parts of his plumage were different from his four sisters' and his crest was different. Miranda had become more and more into painting, Ariel had become more into nature, Umbriel had developed a love for brightly coloured insects, even gross ones like beetles, Titania's love of flowers had also grown stronger and she now had a book on the flowers and trees of the Amazon. She was basically like a great green macaw version of Bia but she specialised in plants instead. Oberon, meanwhile, had become more into soccer and like Charlotte and Callisto he had become a skilled soccer player.

Neptune and Ultramarine's two chicks, Triton and Indigo, had also grown up. They were now obviously taller than their smaller species friends but despite being over three years old, the two were still rather like young human kids for they were still far from adolescence. Hyacinth macaws matured at around seven years so Triton and Indigo were still very young. However, their interests had developed. Indigo had become more into bird flight and anatomy and had even had a book on the subject while Triton had become more into music and acting. However, he was still too young to attend a club.

Ceres and Cobalto's sons, Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur had grown into handsome young blue-throated macaws. Again, their main features had largely remained unchanged. Their talents had also developed and had become more obvious. Azul was an excellent dancer and could perform a variety of complicated sequences of moves; Wilbur had taken up an interest in creepy-crawlies and even had a book on them. He had been able to memories a lot of insect and other creepy-crawly species from it, and Aurelio's singing voice had developed into an elaborate one similar to Roberto's silvery voice. Aurelio was basically like a blue-throated macaw version of Roberto.

Lastly, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's four chicks, Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor had also grown up into pretty young glaucous macaws. Like all the other chicks, not much has changed in their appearances apart from their sizes, but their interests had developed or had changed. Blueberry had taken up painting and could paint a variety of pictures using fruit and flower paint as paints and large leaves and slabs of wood as canvases, Charon had become more into nature though he was not as brainy as Bia or Ganymede. He could do basic maths relatively close to Bia's level. Quincy liked music much like Carla and even had his own Ipod and Flor, like Charon, also liked nature and had especially become interested in flowers and plants like Titania. She had a book on the plants of the Amazon and had practically memories many of the species.

Back in the Spix macaw tribe, Zephyr's sister and Venus's sister-in-law, Brisa, had become the mate of Roberto and with him; she had a clutch of three chicks, two older sons named Jojo and Felix, and a younger daughter named Lavender. Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil had become cousins of these three chicks while Venus and Zephyr now had two nephews and a niece. These three siblings were also close friends with Carla, Bia and Tiago and were part of their circle of friends. Life certainly was positive for all the animals of the Sanctuary de Amazon. However, a new threat against the Sanctuary de Amazon was soon to emerge, meaning a new adventure for some of our feathered friends…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- a usual day part one**

The sun hovered in the sky like a fiery golden yellow orb, casting its warm and golden shafts of light down onto the sea of trees that was the Amazon rainforest and bathing the plants in its warm and lovely lights. Amongst the trees, various animals went about their daily business. Monkeys leaped from tree to tree while birds chatted and flew through the canopy. Occasionally, a snake lurked in the shadows, hunting for prey while in the rivers and streams, fish and other water animals went about their business in the water. On the forest floor, mother jaguars took their cubs out for a walk while capybaras took care not to run into any predator, especially jaguars. Other reptiles and amphibians such as tree frogs also crawled through the trees while butterflies danced about the green leaves in the golden sunlight shafts searching for flowers. In a certain ravine with a waterfall at the back, a flock of Spix macaws were dancing to their theme song, 'Beautiful Creatures'. The male macaws' faces were smeared with red fruit paint on their foreheads and cheeks while the females' faces and wingtips were smeared with yellow pollen. In a certain part of the dancing flock, three pairs of Spix macaws danced with some other younger macaws around them. Blu, his face decked out in red paint, danced with Jewel whose face and wingtips were smeared with yellow flower pollen while nearby, Zephyr danced with Venus and Roberto danced with Brisa. Next to the three couples, a small group of pre-adolescent macaws danced. Carla, Bia and Tiago danced as a trio with Tiago popping up between his sisters as they danced back-to-back, while Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil danced in a square. The seven chicks weren't alone for they were accompanied by some other chicks, but particularly five certain ones, also pre-adolescents but younger. The five new chicks were Jojo, Felix and Lavender, Tyler and Ricardo. Jojo, Felix and Lavender were the offspring of Roberto and Brisa and cousins of Justin and his three siblings while Ricardo and Tyler were the sons of Nuvem and Cassia as well as Justin and his three siblings' second cousins. All five were friends of Carla, Bia and Tiago, part of their circle alongside Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto's chicks from the other tribes and clans.

As the song progressed, the young macaws proceeded to pair up with each other to dance to this part of the song. Justin danced with Carla, Tiago danced with Matilda while Charlotte had paired up a male chick named Músculo ('Muscle' in Spanish based on his muscular build). Turquesa and Garrett, two more friends of Carla and company, had paired up with each other. Bia then proceeded to dance with Raul, a young male pre-teen chick who seemed to like Bia's interest in nature, while Virgil began to look for a female preteen chick to dance with. However, as he fluttered along looking for a partner, a cerulean bird appeared and barged past him. Virgil, at this, shot the bird a glare.

"Excuse me, Aguamarina," he muttered. Aguamarina, at this, shot Virgil a cheeky and bratty glare in return.

"Sorry, son of the macaw with the weird pigtails," she crooned obnoxiously, "I did not see you."

Virgil, at this, stopped dancing and hovered there, taken aback by Aguamarina's attitude. Aguamarina was the only daughter of a macaw named Mertle, who had an equally bratty and foul attitude. Over the three years, Aguamarina's attitude had become more and more like her mother's for Mertle had not bothered to discipline her, and she was sometimes very condescending, often mocking some of the other macaws, especially Carla and her two siblings and their circle of friends for a number of reasons such as the majority of them being born and raised in a city and the unusual appearance of Roberto and Brisa's chicks. Because of this, Aguamarina and her clique of friends, two of them named Benita and Claudia were often shunned by the other preteen chicks. Aguamarina particularly liked picking on Bia because of her gift in intelligence much like her father Blu and she often scorned her. Furthermore, Aguamarina was jealous of Bia having paired up with Raul, thinking that 'nerd birds' as she often called birds like Bia, Ganymede and a few others who are intelligent in just one or two subjects like Uranus and Esmeralda's daughters, Titania and her knowledge of plants. Aguamarina also liked to pick on the 'weaker' chicks or chicks with oddities as well, such as Phobos and Deimos, two of Mars and Chiquitita's sons due to their size, often obnoxiously calling them 'Shorty' or 'Tiny' just to belittle them. She truly was a bratty macaw with an attitude problem. As Virgil continued hovering, he glanced at Bia as she danced with Raul and sighed. Raul was a dark blue macaw like Blu and Roberto and had a single flick of feathers on his head. His face was entirely blue-white which faded to blue down his neck and his eyes were a shade of green. When Raul had started going out with Bia, Virgil had been slightly jealous but had since left the couple to continue their business. Virgil had a crush on Bia but had been too shy to ask her out, which was unusual for such a tough chick and he had hoped that Raul would be a good boyfriend to Bia. However, Virgil was also doubtful of Raul. Raul often had a problem with peer pressure as well as trying to fit in with the 'cool kids'. And since Aguamarina, Claudia, Benita and their clique were some of the 'cool kids', in addition to their attitude towards certain birds like Bia, Virgil knew that this might pose a problem for Bia. Then soon, the Spix macaw tribe had finished their song with a loud cheer and the flock began to disperse.

Blu, Jewel, Roberto, Brisa and Venus and Zephyr's chicks flew in the direction of Roberto and Brisa's tree where they touched down to clean the tribe dance makeup from their faces and wingtips.

"Boy, I can't believe that I am now an uncle," said Zephyr proudly as he glanced at Jojo, Felix and Lavender, "It's hard to believe that their hatching has been almost three years ago."

"I know," said Brisa, "These three will soon be adolescents like the other Spix macaw chicks of their generation."

"They certainly look like a combination of you both with some unique features," said Venus as she looked over her nephews and niece. It was true. Jojo and his siblings practically looked like a full combination of Brisa and Roberto though they had different and very unique features. Jojo, the eldest son and chick of Roberto and Brisa, looked a lot like Roberto. Most of his feathers were blue, like his father's, and he had Roberto's crest but lacked the single feather that stuck up at the front. His eyes were a shade of sea-green, which appeared to be half-way between Roberto's blue eyes and Brisa's lime green eyes, and his build was stocky. Jojo did have some features inherited from Brisa, such as her blue-white head but that was all he had inherited from her. Felix also looked a lot like Roberto but his feathers were an unusual colour. They were cerulean but with a pale teal tint, giving Felix's plumage a sea-green colour, like Turquesa's plumage but greener. One of Roberto's family members had teal-tinted turquoise feathers and he must have passed it onto one of his offspring. Felix also had a slender build. Felix also had a crest like Roberto and Jojo but instead of one layer of mop-like feathers, Felix had three. The first layer cascaded down his head sides and back while a second layer was higher up on top of the first. The third was higher still. This arrangement made Felix look like, according to Venus, Blu and the other macaws that had lived as domesticated macaws for most of their lives, a character from a Japanese anime cartoon, but it was apparently very unique to Felix as no other macaw had a set of head feathers like him, and it was as unusual as Venus, and Charlotte's pigtail crests. Felix's eyes were ocean blue and his facial marks resembled that of Roberto and he had a short tuft of feathers above his beak but the tuft was so small that they were barely recognisable from a distance, especially from his unique collection of head feathers. Lavender was the only daughter of Roberto and Brisa. She, like Felix, had Roberto's facial markings and pale blue eyes and she had a stocky build. However, she had a crest like Brisa but her mop-like set of head feathers were confined to the back. Lavender often tied these feathers into a ponytail like how Orquidea tied her head feathers. Unlike her brothers, Lavender had a very unique colour to her plumage. Rather than blue or cerulean like most Spix macaws, her feathers were pale blue-purple or lilac coloured, which was rather unique and unusual for her species.

All three chicks had inherited Roberto's talent for singing and also his expressive crest trait. Whenever Roberto got angry, frightened or startled, his crest feathers would suddenly spike out. This trait was present in all three chicks but it was less noticeable in Lavender due to the arrangement of her head feathers, but Lavender's ponytail would flare out whenever she got angry or scared if one looked hard enough. Roberto then walked over to his three chicks and put his wings around them.

"Yep, my little Robertos to call my own certainly do take after me in a number of ways, especially in my talent for singing," he said proudly. Brisa then walked over to Roberto and he put a wing around her and the two nuzzled beaks. Then Roberto looked at his three kids.

"Right, lunch time, everyone," he said. At this, all three chicks cheered and prepared to enter Roberto and Brisa's hollow. As they left, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte and Matilda bid the three chicks farewell, but Virgil looked on, a sour look on his face.

"I hope you enjoy your lunch, cousin," said Justin.

"Yeah, we will," said Jojo and with that, the two clasped wings and smiled.

"I can't wait to have some coconut juice," squeaked Felix delightedly as he walked in to the hollow. Though they were now almost three years old, they were still playful.

"I would like some lychees," said Lavender as she followed her brother. As she disappeared into Roberto and Brisa's hollow, which was still Roberto's, Jewel smiled.

"Oh, did I tell you two the news?" she asked, Blu with his wing around her back. Brisa and Roberto looked back with smiles.

"We've just had our second clutch of eggs," said Jewel. At this, cheers of delight escaped Roberto and Brisa's beaks, and Venus and Zephyr looked on with smiles.

"Really, how many?" asked Brisa.

"Two," said Blu. He then looked down at Carla, Bia and Tiago, who were half his size and said, "So these three will have two new siblings to play with."

"It sure is exciting," said Carla.

"I hope they will be girls," said Bia. At this, Tiago shot her a glare.

"Hey, I hope they will be boys," he muttered, "You know, you sisters can sometimes be annoying."

When Carla and Bia shot him a glare, Tiago went quiet.

"Well, I look forward to seeing your two additions to your family," said Venus. She then looked up at Zephyr and said, "Speaking of a second brood, we've been discussing about having one as well."

"Yeah, and hopefully, it will not be a clutch of four eggs like our first one," said Zephyr, a wing slung around Venus's back, "The first four certainly were a challenge to raise. Real rascals they were at times."

At this, Justin, Charlotte and Matilda shot their parents a look. Virgil, however, remained glum, but his parents and siblings haven't yet noticed.

"Oh, Dad," muttered Justin, "We weren't that bad, honestly."

"Well you sometimes did get up to a bit of mischief," said Venus with a smile, "You remember when you smeared graffiti all over Travis and his family's birdhouse with berry juice back in Rio when you were little?"

The three preteen chicks moaned.

"Good job it was washable," said Zephyr, "But Travis and Sunset hadn't been very pleased, I can tell you."

Justin, Charlotte and Matilda all sighed but Virgil just let loose a huff. He was still upset at Aguamarina's attitude. Then Blu felt it was time to go.

"It's time Jewel and I were back at our nest, anyway," he said, "Our new clutch is getting cold. I'll see you guys later."

And with that he took off, calling Carla, Bia and Tiago who took off and followed him.

"Have a pleasant lunch and afternoon," said Jewel as she followed Blu and her first brood kids.

"See you," said Zephyr.

"And we're gonna have lunch," said Roberto. Brisa had already entered the hollow, "And then after that, I'm gonna go and meet Nuvem, Maximillian and a few other Spix and red macaw patrollers at the Spix/red border and then we're gonna go to Demetrio and Violeta's clan and the blue-throated macaw clan's territory to help scan the border for any flying fox activity."

"I think that's already in progress, Roberto," said Venus. She then shuddered at the memory of her narrow escape with death that night right after the fire when a gang of flying foxes led by the deranged Voldemort chased her.

"Yeah, I know," said Roberto, "Even though our territory and the red tribe's aren't right next to the flying fox colony's territory, we need to constantly know and keep updated on their activities."

"Well, you have a nice lunch with your family and I'll see you anytime soon, Beto," said Zephyr, calling Roberto by his childhood nickname, "We'd better be off back to our hollow too. I'm getting hungry and we need lunch too."

And with that, he and Roberto did a fist bump and turned to his family.

"Right, Venus, kids," he said, "Let's go."

"Yep," said Venus and with that, she, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, and all left after saying goodbye to Roberto who was now referred to as 'Uncle Beto' by his four nephews and nieces. Brisa watched Zephyr's family leave.

"Did you see Virgil's face, Roberto?" she asked concerned, "He didn't look very happy."

"Really?" said Roberto, "I was too busy talking to Blu, Ju-Ju, Zephyr and Venus to notice. Anyway, let's have lunch. My stomach's growling."

And with that, he and Brisa entered their hollow to join their three kids at lunch.

 **At the green tribe's territory boundary to the flying fox colony's territory**

"Doesn't look like those bats aren't planning anything suspicious, Alonso," said a military macaw named Lewin as he examined the land of the flying foxes from the green tribe's territory with two other green macaws, another military and a great green. The territory boundary was marked by collected great green and military macaw feathers hung up on trees on the border to remind all the inhabitants on the green tribe's territory and also visitors not to go beyond this point. Alonso, together with Uranus, Luis, Amelia and two of Uranus's preteen chicks, Oberon and Miranda, stood on a perch with four macaws from Valentino's tribe, Waldo, Mercury, one of Mercury's daughters Phoebe and an elderly female Lear's macaw named Elsa. When the green tribe and the Lear's macaw tribe had been enemies, no Lear's macaws had been allowed onto the green tribe's land and vice versa but now the two tribes had made peace, the restrictions had been lifted and the green and Lear's macaws were now allowed to visit each other's territories and also the territories of the other macaw tribes and clans. EXCEPT the flying fox colony's territory, of course. Oberon, Miranda and Phoebe had accompanied their fathers out in this patrol trip because the three liked to go sightseeing and Miranda wanted to gather some ideas for her next painting. As Lewin and the other two macaws returned to the group, Alonso smiled.

"Brilliant," he said, "That's what we would like to hear. Alright, let's leave before any of those flying furballs show up."

And with that, the group of great green, military and Lear's macaws opened their wings and took off in the direction of Alonso's tribe's home patch. As they flew along, Mercury said, "I have never seen any of those flying foxes before. What are they like?"

At this, Luis, Lewin's twin brother, flew up alongside him. "I hope you never meet any of them," he said in a low voice, "Those winged furballs are a bunch of barbaric, bird-hating flying mammals who see us birds as vermin."

"How big are those bats, anyway?" asked Phoebe as she flew alongside her father.

"They're massive bats, Phoebe," said Lewin, "Their wingspans are on average well over a metre in the adults and their heights are sort of half-way between the height of an adult Lear's or great green macaw and an adult hyacinth macaw's height."

"That's pretty massive," whispered Mercury in awe, "No wonder Venus was flooded with such terror that night when she encountered the group of them right after the fire."

"The current leaders of the colony, Cicatriz and his mate Iracebeth," said Amelia, the cousin of Lewin and Luis and the scoremarker for the Pit of Doom team of the green tribe, "are a seriously deranged couple, honestly. I don't know what Cicatriz's younger brother Augustus is like but I assume he's just as bad as his older brother."

"Is Cicatriz actually that bat's name?" asked Miranda as she flew alongside Uranus and Oberon.

"It is, yes," said Lewin, "It means 'scar' in Portuguese and Spanish. I think it suits him well, especially based on his scarred face and body."

"Cicatriz is also blind in his right eye," said Luis, "Apparently the result of a brutal fight with an amazon parrot when he was an adolescent flying fox."

Mercury, Uranus, Phoebe, Miranda and Oberon all winced in revulsion.

"He must have a hideous appearance," muttered Uranus repulsively.

"He does," said Lewin, "In fact Violeta felt nauseated at the sight of his hideous scars when she met him in the past."

"Are there any nice flying foxes?" asked Oberon. Waldo flew alongside him.

"I don't know but I don't want to risk my life venturing into those bats' territory to find out," he said.

"As far as we know, all the flying foxes we had ever met had been barbaric, bird-hating bats," said Lewin, "And always have been for generations."

"But I remember Uncle Jupiter from the red tribe saying that he met three flying foxes who were friends with some birds," said Oberon. The other macaws, however, shook their heads.

"I think it was just a dream or near-death experience hallucination he had had while escaping that stream, Oberon," said Alonso with a disagreeing frown, "None of us have ever met a friendly flying fox and whenever one of those bats and a macaw meets, a fight always breaks out because those bats see us as vermin."

He then stole a glance from the receding flying fox territory and added, "And I sure hope they aren't planning on any more invasions of the territory of another bird tribe or clan and taking their land anytime soon after their most recent victim, the chestnut-fronted macaw clan."

"Those greedy bats," muttered Waldo disgustedly, a flash of rage burning within him, "They're always after land inhabited by birds."

"Yeah," said Elsa, the elderly Lear's macaw, "It's utterly disgusting, honestly."

"You're not kidding, ma'am," said Alonso in agreement, respectfully calling the elderly Lear's macaw 'ma'am' for he felt it was more polite to refer to elderly female members of another tribe or clan this. For males, he often used 'sir'.

"Have any of those macaws survived and been taken here for refuge?" asked Oberon.

"Only around thirty," said Alonso, "But they've been severely traumatised just like how those red-fronted macaws were when their clan had been driven out by those bats so that they could take their land. Anyway, let's return to my tribe's home patch."

As the group of Lear's and green macaws flew on, they came across a small group of blue-throated macaws on an outing into the green tribe's territory. Among the group were some chicks, and Ceres and one of her sons, Aurelio were also present.

"Hey, isn't that Ceres and some of her friends from the blue-throated macaw clan?" asked Mercury, "Hi, Ceres, hi, Aurelio."

At this, the female blue-throated macaw and her son turned and saw Mercury and company, making the others stop into a hover.

"Oh, hi, Mercury, Phoebe, Uranus, Oberon and Miranda," said Ceres, "And hi, Alonso and Waldo."

"We didn't see you," said Aurelio. He then smiled at Phoebe, Oberon and Miranda. Then as soon as the groups merged, the macaws greeted each other.

"So what brings you here?" asked Alonso before his eyes found the group of young blue-throated macaws, "I assume you're taking those lot on an outing into my tribe's territory, am I right."

Then a male blue-throated macaw named Ignacio stepped forward. "We are, yes," he said, "We have had a few dozen new chicks born in our clan and we're taking them out on an outing to meet the other tribes and clans, and also the other non-tribe and clan birds."

Mercury then saw Aurelio.

"I can see Aurelio has decided to accompany you on your outing," he said.

Ceres, at this, glanced at her second eldest son and smiled.

"Oh, Aurelio here?" she said, "He's decided to accompany us on our outing. He's been pestering me to take him out so I relented."

"I guess he just wants to help out with those young chicks," said Lewin.

"I rarely ever get to take chicks out," said Aurelio, nodding to the group of young blue-throated macaws that were all just past flying age, "I also would like to entertain them by singing to them."

"Aurelio has a voice like moonlight," said Ignacio, "In fact; he's like Roberto to a great extent. You should have heard him singing last night. He was very good."

Aurelio blushed at the complement. Then Ignacio moved on to another subject.

"So, any news on the flying foxes?" he asked.

"No suspicious activity," said Alonso gladly, "I just hope it will stay that way."

"We're gonna have our border to those bats' territory examined as well with some help from some of Eduardo and Felipe's patrollers," said Ignacio, "It's important that the other bird tribes and clans are informed with updates on those bats' activity."

Ceres, at this, shuddered slightly at the memory of accidentally straying into the flying foxes' territory with Saturn, Mars and Venus while they searched for Jupiter after he had plunged into a stream with Nigel three years ago. Though Ceres had only got a short glimpse of some of those bats, the memory of their hideous appearance, especially the scars slashing through their pelages, was still as vivid as a set of claw marks freshly scored into the wood of a tree trunk by a jaguar. Furthermore, very few birds that had accidentally strayed into flying fox territory had made it back out alive and even fewer unscathed as well. Then Ignacio said, "Anyway, do you mind if we visit your tribe, Alonso? I would like to introduce our chicks to some of our green feathered friends."

"Sure," said Alonso, "You can come back with me to our home patch if you'd like."

"Thanks," said Ignacio gratefully and with that, the small flock of Lear's, great green, military and blue-throated macaws flew on. Phoebe then began to talk with Aurelio.

"You know something, if you really have a talent for singing," she said, "You'll have to keep on practicing singing. Who knows, you might grow up into a macaw with an awesome singing voice like Mr Roberto."

"Yeah, you don't seem to be singing that much," said Miranda.

"I often don't have time," said Aurelio, "And with our weekly meeting with Carla, Bia and Tiago and the rest of our 'cousins' coming up, it's going to be difficult to find time to practice any singing."

"There is plenty of time," said Oberon, "Maybe start practicing your singing when you return to your clan's home patch."

Aurelio just shrugged and then he, Miranda, Oberon and Phoebe followed the others as they continued en-route to Alonso's tribe's home patch.

 **The blue-and-gold macaw tribe's home patch**

In Saturn and Orquidea's tree, Saturn and his large family were very busy. Saturn and Orquidea's clutch of seven were helping around the hollow, including tidying their rooms, maintaining the tree and bringing in food. Orquidea worked on planting flowers in and around the tree with Enceladus helping. Enceladus had collected some brightly coloured flowers from the blue-and-gold tribe's territory, among them an orchid and two hibiscus flowers. Inside, Tethys, Dione and Rhea helped to clean their parents' nest-bed, which was built at the very top of the tree on a large root, of old moss and shed feathers ready for when Saturn, who had gone out looking for some fresh moss, returned to lay the nest and also the nest-beds of the seven chicks. Titan was also out with Saturn looking for some moss while the other two chicks Iapetus and Mimas, were in their rooms. Iapetus was arranging his collection of stones into a neat and organised arrangement while Mimas was just relaxing. As Enceladus planted one of the hibiscus flowers, a white one, by the entrance to the hollow, he said, "Hey, Mom. I read somewhere that there are some species of orchids in Europe that pretend to be female bees or wasps and even smell like them ready to mate to attract male bees and wasps so that they can pollinate them."

"Really," said Orquidea with an intrigued smile, "I never knew that some species of orchids might look or even smell like an insect ready to mate…"

"They actually produce very similar pheromones to their real counterparts which trigger the mating behaviour of male bees and wasps," said Enceladus. He then looked over the hibiscus flower and admired his work.

"Come to think of it, it actually amazes me how such orchids could pretend to be female wasps ready to mate in both appearance and smell, even right down to the species level," said Enceladus, "There's no way it could have arisen by chance. Dad says that it one of the amazing handiworks of God."

As he said this, Tethys, Dione and Rhea emerged from the hollow and tossed out some green and blue and yellow debris. As the three brushed their wings of the remaining old moss and feathers, the three near-identical sisters smiled.

"Well done, girls," said Tethys, "Looks like we did a good job in clearing Mom and Dad's nest-bed of its old contents."

"Yep, and it, along with our nest-beds, are ready to be lined with fresh moss," said Dione. Then Rhea turned to Orquidea and Enceladus and said, "How are the flowers coming on, Mom and bro?"

"Just fine Rhea, thanks," said Orquidea as she brushed her wings of the dirt after planting an orchid, "It's coming on great."

"Mr Roberto and his family's hollow is decorated with flowers, isn't it?" said Dione, "I wonder if they like flowers like we do."

Suddenly, the sounds of a pair of flapping wings, one large and the other small, reached the group's ears. At this, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Orquidea looked up and saw Saturn and Titan fly in with a large leaf bag.

"Here we are," called Saturn as he and his son touched down, "Fresh moss ready for our nest-beds."

"Oh, brilliant, Saturn," said Orquidea. Then Rhea, Tethys and Dione walked up to their father and larger brother.

"Can we help you lay your and Mom/Mother's nest-bed with that fresh moss, Dad/Father?" said the three girls at the same time.

"Sure, you three," said Saturn as he walked towards the hollow with the moss-filled bag, "Just give us a minute to get the moss sorted and then we'll set to the task."

And with that, the three sisters, Titan and Saturn entered the hollow to do just that. Orquidea and Enceladus followed them into the hollow. Saturn and his family's hollow was enormous and was one of the largest trees in the blue-and-gold tribe's home patch. When Saturn and his family had arrived in the Amazon with the others over three years ago and had found Soleado and his tribe, Soleado had chosen this tree for them to accommodate the large family. The tree was larger than Roberto and his family's tree and had seven rooms plus one large branch on top where Saturn and Orquidea slept. From the bottom up each of the first-brood chicks had their own room: Mimas had the bottommost one, Enceladus slept in the second bottommost room, Tethys, Dione and Rhea slept in the next three rooms up, Iapetus's room was the sixth one up while Titan had the highest one which was the biggest. At the top of the tree, Saturn, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Tethys had begun to lay the nest with the fresh moss and downy feathers.

"You know before you four and your two brothers and sister hatched back in Rio," said Saturn as he sculpted the moss into a neat arrangement, "You were nothing more than white orbs laid into a nest like this."

"Really, Dad?" asked Titan.

"Yes," said Saturn, "All birds start life in these white orbs but of course egg size, colour and shape varies between species. The biggest egg ever discovered was the moa egg."

"Bia and Ganymede told me that in kiwis in New Zealand, when a female is pregnant with an egg," said Titan, "It takes up to a fifth of her body space."

"Birds don't technically get pregnant like live-bearing mammals do, son," said Saturn, "We lay eggs, not give birth to live young, but yes, the kiwi bird's egg is large in proportion to its body."

"Why such a large egg?" asked Dione.

"Bia or Ganymede are the ones to ask about that, Dione," said Saturn, "Or even Blu, Bia's father. I'm not as smart as any of those three, I'm afraid."

Orquidea and Enceladus fluttered up to Saturn and Orquidea's nest to help lay it with the moss. As she did that, Orquidea gazed into her and her mate's sleeping spot, imagining a clutch of eggs in it.

"I can't believe it's so long ago that our seven chicks were once white orbs," she said, "It's such a long time ago…"

"I'm getting old," said Saturn, gazing at Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Enceladus, "Soon, our seven chicks will be old enough to fly the nest."

Orquidea sighed at this fact. Then Saturn examined the moss.

"Looks great, folks," he said with a smile, "Well done."

Orquidea smiled while Titan, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione and Rhea gave each other hi-fives on a job well done.

"Well, my nest-bed is next," said Titan but then knock on the hollow sounded. At this, Saturn looked down at the entrance and said, "I'll see to that."

And with that, he fluttered down from the root and touched down on the floor and walked over to the entrance but when he got that, surprise came over him when he saw who was that had knocked. It was a young scarlet macaw with a muscular build and brown eyes.

"Is Mimas in, Uncle Saturn?" asked the macaw which was Ganymede. At this, Saturn stood there, even more surprised as Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Titan touched down behind him.

"Who's at our hollow, dear?" asked Orquidea. Saturn, at this, stepped aside to reveal Ganymede. At this, Titan went over to Ganymede and did a fist bump with him, a sign of their brother-like friendship.

"Hi, Ganymede," said Titan with a smile, "What brings you here?"

"I'm here to see if Mimas would like to go on an outing with me," said Ganymede, "Is she in?"

Then a few minutes later, Ganymede was in Saturn and his family's hollow. Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Titan had entered Titan's room to lay his bed-nest with some more of the moss so only Saturn, Oequidea and Ganymede were present. Saturn was still swamped with surprise.

"Do you think him and Mimas are on their way to becoming a couple, Orquidea?" he murmured in a low voice, stealing a glance from Ganymede, "I certainly do. Do Jupiter and Ruby know about this?"

"I don't know but I think I'll speak to Mimas about this," said Orquidea, "You stay here with Ganymede."

And with that, she took off and fluttered towards Mimas's room, the lowest bedroom in the hollow. In her room, Mimas was gazing out of a hole in her room into the landscape that was the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's home patch. Flashes of aqua blue, turquoise and yellow indicated the presence of the macaws as they went about their daily business. Her eyes were staring into space.

"I wonder what other places are like," she murmured dreamily, "I would love to see new sights…"

Just then, a knock at her room entrance reached her ears.

"Come in," she said, turning to the entrance. When she saw Orquidea there, a smile on her face, Mimas said, "Mom? Is there something you need to tell me?"

"No but I've been wondering," said Orquidea, "Um… Ganymede from the red tribe has come over here asking if you were in."

"He's here?" asked Mimas in hope. Meanwhile, back at the hollow floor, Saturn stood with Ganymede. The young male scarlet macaw and the only son of Jupiter and Ruby's first brood had been explaining to Saturn why he had come.

"Are you meaning that you want to take her out on a date of some sort?" asked Saturn gobsmacked. Ganymede's beak creased into a shy smile. However, Saturn had already deduced where this was possibly going.

"Yes," said Ganymede at last, "But it's only an outing to admire nature. I'm not planning on taking her out on a meal… yet."

"But Ganymede," Saturn said with a slight frown, "If you're planning on taking a female macaw out, I would have thought you would have asked out a female scarlet your age from your tribe. Our daughter Mimas is a blue-and-gold macaw."

"But um…" however, Ganymede trailed off. He was too shy to tell Saturn that he had feelings for Mimas. But Ganymede decided to insinuate this to Saturn rather than tell him directly.

"None of the scarlet macaw girls from my tribe appeal to me as much as Mimas does," he explained but then he trailed off again as his tongue stuck in his beak. Saturn, at this, tipped his head to one side. Based on Ganymede's statement, he knew that it could mean one thing. After that idea entered his head, he wondered if Mimas felt the same thing towards the young scarlet macaw. But as he wondered about this, a smile crept into Saturn's beak as he remembered two examples of mixed-species couples.

"Of course," said Saturn. At this, Ganymede shot him a confused look.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I just remembered," said Saturn, "Do you remember Travis and Sunset?"

"Yes?" said Ganymede.

"Well," said Saturn, "Travis is a sulfur-crested cockatoo while Sunset is a Major Mitchell's and yet they're mates with offspring. Also, Rafael and Eva: Rafael is a toco toucan and Eva is a keel-billed toucan and yet, they're mates as well. Before those two became mates, they used to date quite a lot."

Saturn then folded his wings. "It's not that common that you get mixed-species pairings you know."

"The term for that is 'interspecific'," said Ganymede.

"Well, whatever the term is," said Saturn, "So, I'm wondering if you and Mimas might be on your way to becoming a boyfriend/girlfriend couple sometime in the future?"

"Uncle Saturn!" spat Ganymede in shock, embarrassment taking hold with the white skin around his face turning pink.

"Just suggesting a point," said Saturn innocently. Meanwhile, back in Mimas's room, Mimas was equally shocked at Orquidea and equally embarrassed.

"What!?" she cried, "You've left Ganymede with Dad!? Mom, this is embarrassing…"

And with that, the young blue-and-gold macaw rushed past Orquidea and towards the base of the tree.

"Nonsense," said Orquidea as Mimas flew past her, "I-I-I was just wondering if…"

But she trailed off when she noticed that Mimas had already hurried to the base of the hollow. As Ganymede and Saturn continued to talk, Mimas appeared, a dumbfounded look on her face. Saturn and Ganymede became silent the moment they had noticed her presence. Then a few seconds after this awkward silence, the female blue-and-gold macaw and male scarlet macaw were out of the hollow. Saturn and Orquidea looked in as Ganymede and Mimas flew away, talking. Orquidea leaned her head on Saturn's shoulder, an affectionate look on her face.

"Well, our seven kids certainly are growing up, dear," she crooned lovingly. Saturn then gazed down at her with a romantic look on his face.

"Yep," he said, his head resting on his mate's crown and wing draped over her back, "Soon they will be leaving the nest, like I've said before."

Then he and Orquidea gazed at each other with loving smiles on their beaks. Next, the two blue-and-gold macaw couple leaned in for a kiss. The kiss lasted for a few seconds but then Orquidea broke away.

"Right, I'm going to have a break from the hard work we've been doing," she said.

"Okay," said Saturn, "And I'll be back out to stock up on some fruit."

And with that, the two lovingly nuzzled beaks and foreheads in an embrace and then broke it. Orquidea then turned to enter the hollow while Saturn turned in the opposite direction.

"I'll see you when you return," she said as Saturn prepared to leave. Saturn smiled and with a flap of his wings, he was off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- a usual day part 2**

 **The red tribe's territory**

In Felipe's tribe's territory, scarlet and green-winged macaws went about their daily business. The green trees were decorated with the red forms with blue, teal, green and yellow wings talking or foraging for food. Some adult macaws took chicks on outings to show them around the territory while others simply went out. Amongst one group of adult macaws and chicks, a certain muscular male scarlet macaw with red-orange feathers was giving a class of chicks a tour of a grove of mango trees. Jupiter had chosen to take some of the chicks that had been born over the past three years out on a tour of the red tribe's territory while Ruby who was back home stocked up on fruit. With Jupiter were Io, Europa and Callisto. Ganymede had gone over to the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's territory to find Mimas. As the group landed on a branch, Jupiter began to talk about a certain species of brightly coloured frog. The frog had blue skin. Its front and legs were azure blue but its back was a brighter neon blue. Black spots were sprinkled on its back like black pen ink on a blue piece of paper. Jupiter commanded the chicks NOT to touch it and some of the adult macaws kept watch over the class to make sure that they obeyed or did not wander off.

"This little frog is known as a poison dart frog," said Jupiter, gesturing to the bright blue and black frog as it hopped to another branch. "Can anyone tell me why it is called that?"

The chicks talked amongst themselves until one of the preteen ones (not Io, Europa or Callisto) put his wing up. Based on the yellow and green contours dividing the red part of the wing from the blue flight feathers, he was a scarlet/green-winged mix.

"Yes, Sheldon," said Jupiter.

"Is it because the indigenous Amazon humans sometimes use their toxins to coat their darts?" asked Sheldon.

"Correct," said Jupiter, looking at the blue and black frog, "Obviously, the skin of these animals ooze with a highly toxic substance as a form of protection against predators, and to warn their natural enemies that they are highly toxic, they are brightly coloured. Bia, Blu and my son Ganymede calls this use of bright colours as warnings 'aposematic'. That is why I commanded you lot not to touch this frog," Jupiter gestured to the little azure blue, neon blue and black frog as it hopped away, "The toxins produced by the frog make a great hunting tool for the human tribes who live in this rainforest, especially for their darts."

Callisto smiled at the frog as it hopped away and disappeared into the leaves. "Phoebe would find that frog fascinating," she said to herself, "After all, she loves observing anything brightly coloured, especially if bright colours are used to alert animals that want to eat them that they are toxic."

Jupiter then led the group of chicks toward the mango tree grove, talking about mangoes. As they flew along, Byron whispered to Europa, "I really wish your brother were here. He's missing out on the tour."

"He's flown over to the blue-and-gold macaws to visit Mimas. And besides, he's been out on plenty of…" replied Europa when the two were interrupted by a stern "heh-hem!"

At this, the two looked up and saw Jupiter frowning at them.

"I hope you're paying attention, you two," he said firmly, "You know this is an education outing?"

At this, Europa said to Byron in a low voice, "I'll speak to you later."

At this, Byron moved away from Europa as the group continued. The group was right above a stream that ran through the mango tree grove and it was rushing. As Jupiter continued talking about the mango grove, he suddenly stopped midsentence when his eyes landed on the rushing stream. At this, he stiffened, much to the surprise of the class of chicks and their supporters.

"Dad?" asked Io concerned, "Dad are you alright?"

"Problem, Jupiter?" asked one of the adult green-winged macaws named Mario, one of the red tribe's Pit of Doom team members. Jupiter continued gazing at the rushing water flowing in the stream as a certain memory, a horrible one, began to churn in his mind like the white water in certain parts of the stream. But then Jupiter snapped out of it and turned to the others.

"Sorry, folks," he said, "Just a trigger of a bad memory of a certain ordeal when I fell into a rushing stream. Anyway, on with the tour…"

And with that, he led the group on. One of the young scarlet macaw chicks, at this, asked Io, Europa and Callisto, "What did he mean 'trigger of a bad memory'?"

"Dad fell into a rushing stream when he was tackled by a deranged cockatoo," said Callisto, "It had left him badly traumatised and since then, he had become unnerved by rushing streams and churning waters."

The chick, at this, gazed at Jupiter as he held up a mango. Since his incident with Nigel when the deranged cockatoo plummeted with him into a rushing stream and attempted to drown him, Jupiter had been avoiding rushing streams and rivers, especially the Amazon River when it was flowing rapidly. In fact, even looking at fast-flowing paths of water is enough to send shivers down Jupiter's spine and make him want to back away, even though he had little problem flying over them, but seeing the rushing water always brought back traumatic memories of his ordeal, such as the critical need for air, the deranged look on Nigel's face and his talons around his neck and how he had nearly drowned in the process. Jupiter had not looked at rushing waters the same way since, and whenever he went to get a drink of water, he always went for streams with slow-moving water or lakes. And despite this traumatic event for their dad, Io, Europa and Callisto, and of course Ganymede as well, still remembered the incident as though it were yesterday. They remembered flying over the surface of that stream, shouting for Jupiter along with Ruby until their throats were raw, and then entering a tunnel of complete blackness of heartbreak and bereavement for the rest of the day, mourning the loss of their father until he was miraculously found, lying unconscious in the forest very late at night by one of the patrol groups led by Leonel, an aged hyacinth macaw from Demetrio's clan, but how Jupiter ended up there in the first place was anyone's guess. Brushing these thoughts aside, Io, Europa and Callisto continued the tour with the others.

While Jupiter continued with the class of chicks with some of the other adult green-winged and scarlet macaws, Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre were back at the red tribe's home patch, hanging out and relaxing. Mars and Chiquitita had had another egg which added another reason why they were back at the home patch. The single egg was due to hatch shortly and Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre looked forward to having a new sibling by their side. While their parents tidied their nest and kept an eye on the egg nestled amongst some moss and red downy feathers in it, the three brothers were hanging about near their parents' hollow, eating some guavas and berries.

"You know something, when we grow up," said Phobos, his beak full of berry. He sometimes talked with his mouthful at times. "I'm not going to have chicks of my own due to the possibility of passing on my tiny size to my offspring."

"Me neither," said Deimos as he ate a piece of guava. Though they were over three years old now and approaching adolescents, Phobos and Deimos were smaller than the average preteen green-winged macaws and had likely inherited Chiquitita's unusual size. Alexandre, however, was of normal size for he had inherited Mars's average size.

"And from what Dad told us about how they had us as well," said Alexandre, stealing a glance from Mars as he threw out some old moss from the hollow and brushed his wings together, "Mom actually found it difficult to conceive until our eggs appeared in the nest much to everyone's surprise. Mom still does have difficulty conceiving even now but despite that, Mom and Dad have had that single egg."

"At least we now have a fourth sibling on the way," said Phobos excitedly, "I can't wait."

"I hope it's a girl," said Deimos, "I would love a sister to play with."

"We'll never know until it hatches," said Alexandre. He then leaned back against the tree trunk and munched on another berry. A butterfly came by and attempted to land on Alexandre's berry but he gently waved a wing to swat it away. The butterfly flitted over to a flower and touched down on it. Phobos and Deimos came over and looked at it. The butterfly's wings were iridescent metallic blue with black edges.

"I think that's a butterfly of the Morpho species," said Phobos, "I remember Bia telling me about this species of butterfly and how its scales are highly iridescent."

He smiled as he admired the shimmering metallic blue surface of the butterfly's wings which appeared to change with viewing angle.

"I remember Dad showing us some pictures of some British butterflies when we were in Rio," said Alexandre, "I can't believe that the UK, where Dad grew up with Uncle Jupiter and the others, has a different assortment of species such as a peacock butterfly, the one with the large eyespots on its wings."

"And the red admiral and the purple emperor butterfly," said Deimos, "I remember seeing some pictures of those butterflies back in Rio too."

As he said this, the metallic blue butterfly took off from the flower and flitted away.

"It seems that God has created a wide variety of butterflies with so many different colours and patterns," said Deimos, "It's just like how He created the different sorts of birds, fish and the other animals to have so much variety…"

Suddenly, a shout rang out from the green-winged brothers' parents' hollow. Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre's heads all snapped in the direction of the hollow like an elastic band snapping back to its shape after being stretched.

"Boys, come to our hollow, quickly!" shouted Mars, an excited smile adorning his face. At this, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre sprang from their perches and rocketed towards the hollow, and then entered it with Mars.

"Our egg's hatching," said Mars as the four pattered over to the nest where the egg was. Chiquitita had been sitting in the nest the entire time and had felt the egg move and heard a few chirping sounds emanate from it. As her mate and three sons gathered round, Chiquitita moved back to expose the egg.

"Your younger sibling's about to enter the world, boys," said Chiquitita. Phobos and his two brothers then focussed on the egg with excited eyes as a tiny crack appeared in its white shell. The egg rocked and the crack grew and soon, a small hole formed in the shell, a little piece of shard falling from it. From the hole, chirping noises sounded. Then next, the cracks extended all the way down the sides of the egg until it finally broke open, and out came a cute little chick. Macaw chicks were born naked and featherless but as they grew into young chicks, their first feathers will grow to cover their bodies. As soon as the new-born chick, and the newest addition to Mars's family, had broken out of its shell prison, it opened its eyes, which were a shade of light orange like its father Mars, and gazed at its parents and older brothers. Phobos smiled in adoration at the new arrival while Deimos and Alexandre made 'Aaaaww' faces. Then Chiquitita scooped up the baby bird and cradled it in her wings while Mars scooped up the shell fragments to dispose of.

"That's what you three looked like shortly after your hatching," said Mars as he left to throw out the egg shell.

"Really, Dad?" asked Deimos.

"Don't you remember seeing the photos of yourselves as hatchlings back in Rio?" asked Mars as he returned.

"You mean we were born featherless?" asked Alexandre, "I always thought that we were born with feathers."

"No, our first feathers come later," said Mars. Chiquitita smiled at the chick as it fidgeted in her wings.

"It's a girl," she said, "We have a daughter in our family now."

"Wow, a little sister," cried Phobos excitedly.

"What are we going to name her?" asked Mars. "I know, you name our daughter since I had named two of our sons and you named our third when they had hatched."

Chiquitita then began to think, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre looking on with excited smiles on their beaks.

"Hmm, let me see," said the diminutive green-winged macaw, looking down at the chick, "Gabrielle has been one of my favourite names so… I'll call her Gabrielle."

"That's an excellent name, Gabrielle," said Mars.

"Nice to meet you, Gabrielle," said Phobos, "We are your big brothers."

Deimos and Alexandre smiled as they admired their new sister Gabrielle. Then suddenly, the baby chick let loose a piercing cry. Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre all flinched at the unexpected sound and backed away, wondering what they had done one as Chiquitita cradled Gabrielle. Mars smiled.

"Don't worry boys," he said, "You haven't done anything wrong. She's just hungry. Chicks do wail when they are hungry…"

Chiquitita continued cradling her new daughter in her wings and rested her head against her chest feathers and Gabrielle calmed down. Mars then put his wings on his sons' shoulders.

"I think it's time to leave your mother in peace with our new addition to our family, boys," he said gently. Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre obeyed and left after giving their new sister one last look. Then the three brothers left the hollow while Mars began to look for some fruit to feed the new baby.

"We've finally got a little sister," cried Alexandre excitedly.

"I look forward to seeing her fly eventually," said Deimos.

"Let's go find Io, Europa, Callisto and our other friends," said Phobos, "I can't wait to tell them the news about our new sister. They'll have finished their outing with Uncle Jupiter and will have returned by now."

And with that, the three brothers flew out into the scarlet and green-winged macaw-riddled trees.

 **The territory of the Navyfeather hyacinth macaw Clan and the glaucous macaw tribe**

In the home patch of trees inhabited by a clan of hyacinth macaws and a small tribe of glaucous macaws, large navy blue birds and smaller birds with turquoise or blue bodies and grey heads flew about. Like the macaws of every other tribe or clan, some of the hyacinth and glaucous macaws were out and about looking for food, visiting the neighbours or taking chicks on outings. In the glaucous macaws' trees, not far from the Navyfeather Clan's trees, the glaucous macaws were busy. Dozens and dozens of chicks had hatched over the past three years since Rudi's tribe had settled into their new home thanks to the Navyfeather Clan's idea. Before, when they had lived as refugees, not very many chicks had been born, and the atmosphere hanging over the tribe back then had been nothing but dismally grey clouds. Now that the glaucous macaw tribe had finally moved into a proper home, the atmosphere hanging over them was as bright as a sunny day. Young glaucous macaw chicks played with the hyacinth macaw chicks from the Navyfeather Clan. Some played chase, some played a form of ball game and some of the others just chatted, while dozens of adult hyacinth and glaucous macaws went about their usual business. A certain group of preteen glaucous and young hyacinth macaw chicks were by a small stream that ran through the home of the Navyfeathers and glaucous macaws, relaxing or playing in the stream. Four of the glaucous macaw chicks were Charon, Blueberry, Flor and Quincy, the offspring of Pluto and Lapis Lazuli while two of the hyacinth macaws were Indigo and Triton, Neptune and Ultramarine's daughter and sons. They were with three of their friends, one of them being Victor, the hat-wearing son of Bruna and Pedro from the Navyfeather Clan and a female glaucous macaw just Blueberry and her three younger siblings' age named Neytiri being another. She had been one of the chicks that had got lost in the most recent fire and found by Tornado and Zephyr who had gone out to look for Venus three years ago. The other friend was a male glaucous macaw named Juan who was Neytiri's cousin. Flor was lying against a tree trunk, her beak in a book on flowers and plants of the Amazon rainforest while Quincy waded in the stream, dragging a stick through the crystal-clear waters and watching the sediment whirl and billow as it was disturbed by the stick's movements. The others sat along the bank, talking.

"Did you know that our weekly meeting with Carla, Bia and Tiago, and our 'cousins' is this evening?" said Triton.

"Yes," said Charon, his voice sounding a little deeper than Triton's. Though he and Triton were roughly the same age, Triton and Indigo were no different from young human kids while Charon, Quincy, Flor and Blueberry were similar to human kids aged ten or eleven years and thus were slightly more mature than the hyacinth chicks. Nearby, Indigo and Victor looked up and smiled. Like Flor, Indigo had a book on her but it was one on the subject of birds.

"I'm looking forward to the meeting," said Indigo with a smile, "I wonder how the others are getting on in their tribes and clans."

"I heard that you've got two new friends joining you," said Victor, "That's Alessandro the chestnut-fronted macaw and Mariposa the blue-headed macaw, am I right?"

"That's right," said Triton. Victor smiled. He was a fairly good looking young hyacinth macaw. Like most of the other hyacinth macaws his feathers were dark navy blue and his eyes were bordered by a line of yellow skin. His lower mandible had another piece of yellow skin behind it, referred to as a beak lappet. He was stocky and his eyes were a shade of brown like that of bark, and his beak was quite large, like Blu from the Spix macaw tribe. Victor's head feathers were not often seen for they were hidden under his fruit shell hat but when he removed it, such as to throw his hat at foes to bop them on the head, a small cluster of feathers was revealed. It was a fairly simple cluster with nothing unusual or unique about it. Victor's wearing of a fruit shell hat often reminded Carla, Bia and Tiago of Nico, the yellow canary from Rio who wore a bottle cap for a hat in a similar fashion. Victor, Juan and Neytiri were some of the friends of Carla and her two siblings, as well as the others part of their close-knit circle, such as Justin and his siblings. The three were particularly close friends of Indigo and Charon respectively.

Neytiri was a beautiful young glaucous macaw girl with some rather unique features. Like all glaucous macaws, she had a grey head and her body plumage was some shade of blue or turquoise. Her body plumage was mostly cyan but her wings and tail were a darker aqua blue. The underside of her tail did not show any hint of grey. Neytiri's head feathers were also unique. They were a set of long head feathers tied into a braid similar to that of some humans with long hair. When they were loose and untied, they cascaded down the back of Neytiri's head similar to Sapphire's head feathers but they extended down to her lower back but Neytiri rarely had her head feathers untied. The feathers faded to aqua blue towards the end similar to Lapis Lazuli's head feathers fading to rich blue towards the tips. Neytiri's eyes were a shade of periwinkle and she had a slender, lithe build. Juan, her cousin, had similar features but his feathers were azure blue and his head feathers were a mere simple feather ruffle on his crown. His eyes were a shade of purple and he, too, was slender but was broader than Neytiri. Neytiri had become close friends with Charon but also with Bia and Ganymede for she was fascinated by their intelligence and their telling of scientific facts, which meant she had an inquisitive nature. Blueberry then folded her wings and smiled.

"It seems that a lot has gone off the past week," she said, "though not much as really happened…"

"I wonder what sort of adventure awaits us," said Neytiri, "Could we be travelling abroad? I know some of your friends were on about wanting to visit other countries of South America…"

"Yeah, but we're still too young," said Indigo, "We're still far from young adulthood."

As Indigo said this, Quincy continued running his stick through the shallow part of the stream and watched the sediment billow and swirl with fascination.

"Hey, Quincy," called Blueberry, making Quincy whip his head in her direction, "You looking forward to our meeting this evening?"

"Yes," said Quincy, his stick still in the water, "I suppose we'll all have a lot to talk about when we meet…"

"I'm also looking forward to it," said Flor who still had her flower book open, "I wonder what scientific facts Bia and Ganymede are going to give us when we gather around our meeting point. I should imagine it would be really interesting…"

"I love listening to Bia and Ganymede talk about scientific things when they come to visit us," said Neytiri, "I think they should be nature teachers when they grow up."

"They would do a good job in a role like that," said Triton with a smile. Then Juan smiled.

"Well, when I grow up," he said, "I wanna be a tribe nurse or healer. Mom is part of that group and I would like to take after her."

"I'm not sure what I'd like to do when I grow up," said Charon doubtfully, "Maybe travel as well?"

"Speaking of that, bro," said Blueberry, "Mom and Dad did consider that once but they seemed largely reluctant and against the idea now because of our species' rarity…"

"Glaucous macaws like you six are critically vulnerable and extremely rare," said Triton, referring to Charon, Blueberry, Flor, Quincy and Neytiri and Juan, "Apparently, your tribe is the only existing flock on the entire planet. No wonder Tulio's team were so earnest in including Mr Rudi's tribe in their list of protected species of endangered macaws."

"The Spix macaws fall on the same perch as well," said Charon, "I think Mr Eduardo's tribe is the only flock of Spix macaws in existence."

He then sighed and added, "And because outside the sanctuary we are more open to possibly getting caught by poachers, especially what almost happened to Flor during our trip to Rio last year, Mom and Dad had put the idea of travelling to other countries as out of the question."

Last year, when Pluto and Lapis Lazuli had travelled to Rio with Quincy, Flor, Blueberry and Charon and Neptune and his family as they wanted to visit Cometa and her mate Lightning after hearing news that they had become the proud parents of two chicks, a son and a daughter, on the way to the city, the two families had faced a frightening ordeal when one of Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's chicks, Flor, ended up getting caught in a trap set up by poachers. Thankfully, she had screeched for help when she had been placed into a cage by the poachers, which had been two men, and her parents and Neptune had come to the rescue just in time as the poachers were about to carry her away. Pluto and Lapis Lazuli had viciously attacked the man holding the cage containing their daughter while Neptune went for the other man and then carried the cage away. Ultramarine had stayed behind to look after Blueberry, Quincy, Charon, Triton and Indigo during the rescue. Pluto was not normally violent but if any of his chicks are in danger, the volatile parental instinct to protect them was enough to turn him into an extremely aggressive macaw who would not hesitate to inflict some brutal and nasty scratches and bites, and he did give that poacher who had Flor a brutal clawing and biting, drawing some blood in the process. Flor shuddered at the frightening ordeal as Charon mentioned this but she also shuddered at the memories of a group of poachers, Lysandre's group, actually successfully infiltrating the Sanctuary de Amazon to poach some macaws. Poachers were very sneaky humans, Roberto from the Spix macaw tribe had once warned Blueberry and her three younger siblings, who would often use well-disguised traps to capture macaws and other animals, like how Roberto himself had been caught by one group of poachers shortly after his family had been brutally slaughtered by some of the flying foxes.

"Yeah, outside the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Triton darkly, "The danger of facing getting trapped by those sneaky animal thieves is pretty high."

He then nodded to Flor and said, "It's a good job Dad, Uncle Pluto and Aunt Lapis took immediate action after hearing your distressed cries…"

"Yeah, or else I would have been taken to an unknown demise," said Flor.

"It is frightening when you end up caught in a trap set up by smugglers," said Victor, "Especially when you realise it too late. Mom was once caught in one a trap set up by those animal thieves and was rescued in time. I think it was a hidden cage or something, I can't exactly remember…"

"Well, the next time we go to Rio," said Quincy, walking out of the stream's edge after becoming bored of watching the sediment whirl and cloud in the water and tossing the stick away, "We'd better take extreme care not to wander away from our parents' and elders' sides."

"I would like to visit Rio one day," said Neytiri. Her face then fell. "But Aunt Michelle would not let me because she is worried that I might end up in trouble like how Flor almost did."

She then gazed at Charon and Blueberry with a more cheerful face and said, "But I would love to meet your city cat and dog friends."

"I'm afraid most are pretty much scattered across Rio, Neytiri," said Charon, "The only ones left at our human friends' house are Broccoli and Collette, two of Mr Veggie and Mrs Catina's offspring, Mr Veggie who is well on in his years, Mr Dash, Mrs Ginger, and James who is living with his two friends Pelusa and Nevado."

He then looked at Blueberry, Triton and Indigo and said, "Which reminds me, James and his two friends now own a cat-and-dog only club, don't they?"

"Yes," said Blueberry, "The name of the club is 'Gatos Y Perros (or 'Cats and 'Dogs' in English) Club'."

"You also told us that Nico the canary and Pedro the cardinal also have a club in Rio, don't they?" asked Juan.

"Yes, they do," said Triton, "But that's for birds. James and his two friends have put a strict prohibition sign on their club against us birds due to the presence of cats in the club."

"That sounds kind of discriminatory," said Victor with a frown.

"It's to protect us from the cat attendees," said Quincy, "Only a few cats such as Broccoli, Collette and Mr Veggie are alright with us but others aren't, and James does not want to risk putting us in danger of those feline attendees. His Persian cat friend, Nevado, is wary of his urge to catch and eat birds and understands that he does not want to risk doing that to any of us or the birds living in and around Rio."

"Oh, I see," said Victor.

"We've never met a city cat or dog before," said Neytiri, "What do they look like?"

"The city cats resemble that feline creature called a margay," said Charon, "But smaller and with varying colours and patterns to their coats. Some have just one colour, like black or white, while some have more complicated patterns like blotches or stripes. Dogs, on the other hand, are more difficult to describe due to so many different types of them in existence."

"So city dogs have a variety of different appearances and builds?" asked Neytiri in fascination.

"So do city cats," said Charon, "It's due to the selection of specific traits through breeding by humans that has led to the different sorts, called 'breeds'. The term for that is artificial selection."

"Whoa," cried Neytiri, her periwinkle blue eyes sparkling in fascination and her beak hanging wide open. Just then the group heard their names get called. At this, Blueberry turned and saw Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Neptune and Ultramarine hovering in the distance, shouting for her, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Triton and Indigo to fly over to them.

"Oh, aye," said Blueberry to Neytiri, Juan and Victor, "Mom, Dad, Aunt Ultramarine and Uncle Neptune want us. We'll see you later in the day."

"Okay, see you," said Victor with a smile as the four glaucous macaws and two hyacinth macaws opened their wings and took off for their parents.

"Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Indigo and Triton certainly do have some interesting friends back in their birthplace of Rio, don't they?" said Neytiri. Juan and Victor smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- an evening meeting and a romantic night**

Evening finally came over the Sanctuary de Amazon and the rest of the rainforest, and the sun was approaching its setting point near the horizon. Macaws and other diurnal (day-active) birds were preparing to turn in for the night. In one spot close to the border dividing the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaw tribe's territory and that of the Spix tribe, a certain group of young chicks of various macaw and other bird species had gathered around a certain tree. The tree was a large species of tree and it was Carla, Bia and Tiago's choice of meeting spot for the others in their circle of friends. Sometimes the group would gather at other spots, but here was the most commonly used area. The large tree was decorated with firefly lanterns, an invention of one of the Bluewing hyacinth Clan's previous leaders and Violeta's grandfather based on the artificial lights used by humans. However, these lanterns were a little different. Though the lanterns were leaf balls containing fireflies, they were not attached to sticks. That type was used in searching for lost clan or tribe members at night or in night patrols. This type of lantern was the equivalent of hanging lights or light bulbs used by city humans in their homes as a light source. Under a set of firefly lanterns, Carla, Bia and Tiago and their circle of closest friends had gathered, perched on a set of branches.

The circle of closest friends included all of Zephyr and Venus's four chicks Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil; Roberto and Brisa's three chicks Jojo, Felix and Lavender; Mercury and Sapphire's daughters Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette; Mars and Chiquitita's first brood sons Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre; Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto who were Jupiter and Ruby's three daughters and one son; Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus, the large brood of Saturn and Orquidea; Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon, the four daughters and only son of Uranus and Esmeralda; Neptune and Ultramarine's two chicks Triton and Indigo; Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's four chicks Charon, Quincy, Flor and Blueberry; and Ceres and Cobalto's sons Aurelio, Azul and Wilbur, and Nuvem and Cassia's two sons Ricardo and Tyler. Other friends of the group sometimes attended the meeting but this evening, they were back in their respective tribe and clan home patches, so only Carla, Bia and Tiago and their closest friends were present. However, the group had two new close friends and regular attendees but the two newcomers were from a couple of smaller groups of birds living on the Sanctuary de Amazon but were not part of a tribe or clan. One was a male chestnut-fronted macaw named Alessandro and he was from a small close-knit group of up to five families of chestnut-fronted macaws living on the Bluewing hyacinth Clan and blue-throated macaw clan's territory, and the other was a female blue-headed macaw named Mariposa and she was from a group of blue-headed macaws that lived on the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's territory.

Alessandro was mostly a leafy green macaw. His wings were rusty red underneath but blotches of red decorated the leading edge of his wings. The tops of his wing flight feathers were aqua blue and his tail was green with splashes of red and aqua blue on the top but rusty red underneath. He had a white mask of skin enclosing his face with patches of solid dark brown brodering the top of his beak and near his cheeks, just outside the face mask. His eyes were a shade of brown and his crown had a short sheet of feathers which stopped just opposite his temples. Alessandro had a stocky build. Mariposa was a pretty blue-ehaded macaw and was the daughter of Skyla, the blue-headed macaw owner of the club on the blue-and-gold tribe's territory, and her mate Jairo. Like every other macaw of her species, Mariposa had green feathers but her feather shade was lime green, lighter than Alessandro's. The undersides of her wings and tail were yellow and Mariposa had a slender build. She also had a unique crest: a single pigtail on the left side of her head, giving Mariposa an asymmetric appearance. Her eyes were a shade of blue. Mariposa looked a lot like her mother Skyla for she had most of her features but Skyla's eyes were green and her crest was a simple ruffle and not a ponytail. Blue-headed macaws were quite a small species of macaw, smaller than a Spix and about a third the size of a hyacinth. Thus Mariposa was only around Phobos and Deimos's size.

As soon as all the birds had settled around in a large ring on the branches around a firefly lantern, Carla opened up the meeting.

"Saludos (Spanish for 'Greetings'), everyone," she said, "I'm so glad that you have managed to make the effort to come to our friend meeting this evening. For those who could not make it due to circumstances, maybe they'll have better luck next time."

The others all smiled and prepared to tell the others of the things that had happened over the past few days. Nearby, Bia was examining a pupa hanging from a small twig. She had brought a drawing book which was a gift from Broccoli during one of her, Carla, Tiago and Blu and Jewel's visits to Rio during the three year time gap due to her interest in science and her love of drawing her observations, similar to some of the others into art like Miranda. Carla then clapped her wings together and said, "Right, I believe that quite a few of us have some exciting news to tell us. I can tell by the looks on the faces of some of you, especially you, Alexandre, Phobos and Deimos. Would you like to tell us what is exciting you?"

The three green-winged macaw brothers all smiled.

"Our fourth sibling has hatched today," said Phobos, "It is a little sister named Gabrielle."

"Wow, you finally have a little sister?" said Justin who sat next to Carla, "That's awesome."

"When I, Callisto and Europa arrived back from our outing with Dad," said Io, Europa and Callisto flanking her, "Phobos told us about it. We went to see the new addition to Uncle Mars's family's hollow and were introduced to Gabrielle."

"She certainly was cute," said Europa with a bright smile on her face.

"We have yet to see the new addition to Uncle Mars and Aunt Chiquitita's family," said Charlotte, "I'm sure Mom and Dad or any of our other relatives wouldn't mind taking us to the red tribe's territory to visit Uncle Mars and his family."

"We're thrilled to hear that you finally have a little sister, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre," said Virgil. The three green-winged brothers all smiled. Then Phoebe spoke up.

"Speaking of second broods, Mom and Dad don't seem to be having any plans of having another clutch of eggs at the moment," she said.

"Maybe you're still too young to leave the nest," said Europa, "I know Ganymede, Callisto, me and Io are."

Io, Ganymede and Callisto all sighed.

"We're approaching adolescence," said Ganymede but then he nodded to Triton and Indigo. "But those two still have a long way to go until they reach puberty. They're still very young despite being the same age as us."

"Hyacinth macaws don't reach puberty until around six or seven years," said Jasmine who was flanked by her sisters Phoebe and Annette, "So they still have quite a long way to go."

Triton and Indigo sighed at this fact. Then Triton smiled.

"Coming back to new additions to our families," he said, "Is anyone else expecting new siblings?"

"We are," said Tiago excitedly.

"We're expecting two of them," said Carla.

"And our Mom and Dad mentioned on having another clutch of eggs as well," said Justin as he sat with Virgil, Charlotte and Matilda.

"Our parents have no plans of having another brood," said Aurelio who was flanked by his brothers Wilbur and Azul, "Mom and Dad feel that they have enough on their wings with the three of us. Any more chicks would probably increase the burden too drastically."

"Maybe they might have another clutch when you leave the nest?" asked Tiago.

"We don't know," said Azul, "Perhaps."

"And as for us," said Mimas who sat with Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus sitting to her left, "Our parents are not going to have any more chicks due to the size of our brood."

"Seven is a lot of chicks to raise at once," said Enceladus.

"I'm not surprised," said Carla, but then she smiled.

"So it seems that only Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre have had a new addition to their family while us three," she nodded to Tiago and Bia, "Are the only ones expecting two new siblings."

Then Skyla the blue-headed macaw spoke up. "Speaking of expecting new siblings," she said, "You lot told me about this toucan couple Rafael and Eva who live in the human city known as Rio, haven't you?" he asked. Carla and Tiago nodded. Then Mariposa frowned and folded her wings.

"I cannot believe that they would have so many kids," she said, "What was the number again? Forty-something?"

"Fifty-something actually," said Enceladus, "My Dad says that they breed like rabbits."

"What's a rabbit?" whispered Alessandro the chestnut-fronted macaw to Ariel, one of Miranda's sisters.

"It's a type of mammal with long, pointy ears and a fluffy tail," replied Ariel, "They're one of those animals with a fast reproductive rate."

Alessandro's beak creased into an 'O' in intrigue.

"And some of their older chicks who are adults now are no different," put in Tethys with an indignant gaze, "Honestly, that bunch of toco toucan/keel-billed toucan mixed birds should form a clan."

"I would love to meet them when I go to Rio one day," said Alessandro with a smile. When he saw the disapproving looks on some of the chicks' faces, especially Carla and Tiago's with some of them shaking their heads, his smile vanished.

"A lot of those toucans are a bunch of outright troublemakers, Alessandro," said Carla, "We know that from experience. When Bia, Tiago and I were young and had just met Mr Jupiter and the others, we picked up their mischievous traits and did what they did to them."

"Yes," said Tiago, "Even I know that some of their antics are naughty. Several times, some of those toucans had plastered graffiti all over some of the hollows of the residents on the Blu Bird Sanctuary and even play tricks on some of the other birds."

He then nodded to Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon and added, "During our last trip, those five, along with Collette, our calico/tabby mix friend and one of Mr Veggie and the late Mrs Catina's daughters, were lured into a setup by a gang of some of those toucans, were tied together with vines and then pelted with fruit."

Miranda released a sigh and rolled her eyes, remembering that ordeal. The majority of Rafael and Eva's descendants were a bunch of rambunctious troublemakers, no different from many of their parents and often got up to seriously naughty mischief. One of their antics involved tying Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon and Collette together in a vine and then pelting them with berries and other fruit. The result was that five great green macaw chicks and caliby cat had come out in a terrible state, and Collette had burst into tears.

"And believe me, when Mom, Dad, Mr Dash, Mr Veggie and Mrs Ginger found out based on our and Collette's state," said Miranda indignantly, "they were absolutely furious."

"Those toucans that pelted us with fruit were some of Rafael and Eva's many grandkids," said Ariel, "However, the parents of that bunch of toucans, when Mom and Dad confronted them, denied their chicks' playing that rotten trick on us and upsetting Collette."

"Even after all this time, those toucans are still the same," moaned Oberon. The others nodded in agreement while Alessandro wore a shocked look on his face.

"However, not all of Rafael and Eva's offspring are misbehaved though," said Oberon, pointing to a diamond in the rough with a smile, "Three of them are good friends of ours and disapprove of their siblings or cousins' outrageous mischief."

"That's true but the rest of them are a crowd to avoid," said Titania, "So when you decide to come with us to Rio, Alessandro, when you become old enough, you're not to get involved with them. They're poorly disciplined and you could become like one of them if you mix with them."

Alessandro and Mariposa nodded. Then the group heard murmurs from Bia as she continued examining the pupa. At this the other birds turned round and smiled.

"You certainly do find butterfly and moth pupae fascinating, don't you, Bia?" said Titania. Bia, at this, finished her drawing of the pupa and turned to look at the others.

"Uh, yes," said she, "I'm trying to make a series of scientific drawings of each of a butterfly's lifecycle stages."

She then smiled at the drawing of the pupa and closed the book.

"I've currently got an egg, a caterpillar and this stage the chrysalis and now all I need is an adult butterfly," Bia said, "But I suppose I could draw one from one of my ecology books since butterflies are a pain to try and draw since they don't often sit still for very long."

Mariposa then fluttered over to the pupa and looked at the leaf-like bundle hanging from the twig up close. Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Tyler and Ricardo followed.

"So this is when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, isn't that right?" Mariposa asked in fascination.

"Yes, Mariposa," said Virgil, "It's called the chrysalis stage."

Mariposa smiled with intrigue. "My name is Spanish for 'butterfly'," she said, "Mom told me that it was one of her favourite names."

"Is it?" asked Felix with a smile. Mariposa nodded.

Then Jojo asked Bia, "So is the chrysalis or whatever it is called the stage when a caterpillar grows wings and becomes the butterfly that we are familiar with?"

"No, the transformation is not that simple, Jojo" said Bia, "It's actually much more complicated."

"Is it?" said Tyler in surprise, "I always thought that the caterpillar just develops wings before it breaks free from the pupa's wrapping."

At this, Ganymede turned and looked at him with a smile.

"It just not just develop wings, Tyler," he said.

"We ought to show you the lifecycle of a butterfly in one of our books," said Mimas, "I'm sure Bia or Ganymede wouldn't mind doing that."

Bia smiled at Mimas's suggestion.

"I suppose most of us don't realise just how intricate the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly inside a chrysalis can be, even the majority of us city-born birds," said Enceladus, "I know the caterpillar must not only develop wings but also that nose thing with which it sucks nectar and other fluids…"

"It's called a proboscis," said Bia.

"Proboscis then," said Enceladus, "And also those compound eyes, a different set of organs…"

"The caterpillar's body actually breaks down into some sort of mush and from that mush a butterfly is built," said Ganymede. At this, the majority of the other birds flinched in surprise.

"Really?" said Jojo.

"Sounds kind of gross," said Ricardo, Tyler's near-identical brother with a repulsed frown. At this, Tethys stepped forward.

"No, that's actually what happens inside the pupa," she said, gazing at the pupa, "The adult butterfly has a completely different form to a caterpillar. Bia and Ganymede call it complete metamorphosis."

"Complete…" said Ricardo with a raised eyebrow in confusion.

"Term for the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly," said Bia. The others uttered an 'Ooooh' in reply and some of them exchanged glances.

"You know something," said Io, her wings crossed, "When Ganymede tried explaining the lifecycle of a butterfly to Mr Felipe, his attention just wandered off."

"I don't think the whole detailed explanation is of much appeal to Mr Felipe anyway," said Europa. At this, Ganymede just sighed.

"But still," said Jojo, "How does a caterpillar transform into some sort of mush that then reassembles into a butterfly?"

Bia, at this, closed her eyes and began to speak.

"That's easy to explain," she said, "As the caterpillar's body breaks down, its cells undergo a process known as programmed cell death or apoptosis and then the remains of the cell's parts are…"

As Bia said all this, Jojo's eyes slid shut and then clamped hard as his head felt like it was about to explode with the technical terms Bia was including. His crest feathers also spiked out somewhat.

"STOOOP!" he shouted, making Bia stop. "I get it, okay?" said Jojo pleadingly, "The caterpillar just becomes some sort of mush and from that mush a butterfly is built. That's easy enough for me to understand. You didn't have to use all those fancy words you call scientific terms, you know…"

"But Ganymede looks like he gets what Bia said," said Phobos, looking at Ganymede who just smiled. Bia, at this, said nothing. Just then, a snide laugh sounded nearby. At this, the group all looked up and to their shock, they saw a young female Spix macaw with light blue feathers and blue eyes flooded with condescension enter the scene. The Spix macaw then flew over to the spot where Jojo and Lavender, Jojo and Felix's younger sister were perched and rudely perched between them, pushing the two aside much to their disgust.

"Hey," snapped Lavender but the Spix macaw ignored her.

"What do you want, Aguamarina!?" shouted Carla angrily.

"You know it's rude just to fly in without asking," said Tiago. The others looked on with angry expressions on their faces.

"Sorry," said Aguamarina childishly to Carla and Tiago as though she were better than them, "I just overheard your sister talk something about some pupa or whatever it's called and how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly or whatever it was…"

She then turned and gazed at the pupa and said, "But what's so special about it, anyway? It's nothing more than a small piece of folded leaf. I could just pick it off…"

"It's NOT a folded leaf," snapped Jojo angrily, his crest feathers somewhat spiked out, "It's a caterpillar inside a pupa undergoing a transformation into a beautiful butterfly."

Nearby, Alessandro and Mariposa watched Aguamarina, disgusted expressions lacing their faces. They clearly did not like this Spix macaw's foul attitude and wanted her to leave. Aguamarine then gazed at Jojo, her condescending expression making the young glaucous macaw flinch slightly.

"Still looks like a piece of leaf to me," Aguamarina crooned. Jojo felt a slight spark of anger flash within him, and Felix also felt rage fire up within him as well, his three-layered crest feathers spiking out like a hedgehog's spines. Lavender however hid behind her brothers, not wanting to stand before the boastful and bratty macaw. Then Aguamarina turned to Bia and when she saw the latter's drawing book, Aguamarina said, "Hey, is that a collection of your drawings, Bia-Brainea?"

At this, the others, especially Carla and Tiago, Virgil, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, flinched in anger. Virgil then fluttered over to Bia's side and prepared to take action, knowing what Aguamarina was like with Bia's books. Aguamarina then snatched the drawing book from Bia's wings and began to flick through it.

"They're just scientific drawings of various things," growled Bia, "Now give it back!"

Aguamarina ignored her and continued flicking through Bia's book, a mocking smile creeping onto her beak. Phoebe then stepped forward and attempted to snatch it off Aguamarina but Aguamarina cheekily moved the book away so that she missed. In the background, Jasmine, Annette and Phoebe, Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur looked on disgustedly.

"That Spix macaw certainly does have an attitude problem," said Phoebe in a low voice.

"Yeah, and I absolutely don't like it one bit," growled Wilbur, his wings crossed and his face twisted into a scowl.

"Give that book back to Bia, Aguamarina," growled Virgil. Aguamarina just ignored him and continued flicking through the book until finally, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Bia in irritation. The others just looked on and said nothing. Then Aguamarina shot Bia a spiteful glare and what she said next sent shock and hot rage coursing through the rest of them present, especially Virgil, Carla and Tiago.

"I don't see how you could possibly have friends," said the bratty Spix macaw, sneering as she saw Bia's offended facial expression, "especially if you're gonna keep on babbling on about some stupid facts that sound nothing more than mere gobbledegook…"

The beaks and the eyes of the others dropped open and widened in utter shock at Aguamarina's remark. Aguamarina then shoved the book back into Bia's face and said, "Thank you, you really have made my evening. My friends look forward to hearing what I have to say about you."

And with that, the spiteful daughter of Mertle opened her wings and took off.

"See you, Bia-Brainea," she crooned as she left, leaving a dumbfounded Carla's group to gaze on after her. Then Phoebe stormed forward and growled, "Oooh, that Aguamarina! Who does she think she is!?"

"Yeah," said Jojo, "How can she just fly in and say something so nasty like that to Bia?"

"Or mock her for her talent in science," said Tyler. Io then looked at Bia and said, "Especially since you are so good at the subject with an amazing grasp of such complicated terms and fancy words as well."

"I agree," said Ganymede. Then Bia glared at Aguamarina as she continued to fly off, a scornfully smug mark on her face, into the darkening jungle. Seething anger began to boil within Carla and Tiago's sister's interior at the scathing remark from the bratty macaw. Then Mariposa and Alessandro flew in.

"What a _horrible_ girl," muttered Alessandro indignantly, "How could she be so obnoxious?"

"She's certainly a macaw I could avoid," said Mariposa, "She's spoilt our good evening meeting as well."

"Yeah," said Lavender with a scowl as she emerged from behind her two older brothers, "First by rudely flying in without asking for permission and then insulting Bia and her scientific talent."

"And calling that pupa nothing more than a piece of folded leaf with no significance," put in Europa. Virgil then flew to the front and gazed after Aguamarina.

"She's just like her mother," he muttered.

"Like her mother?" repeated Alessandro curiously. Ricardo turned to him.

"Her mother's name is Mertle," he explained, "And like Aguamarina, she has an attitude problem as well. Despite how many times she had been told by the majority of the others in our tribe, she just wouldn't get rid of that obnoxious attitude and it seems that her daughter had picked that up."

"And to add," said Tyler, "Aguamarina has formed some sort of clique with other macaws with a similar attitude problem, among them Benita and Claudia, two of her friends. In fact, that lot are some of the 'cool kids' and that lot like to look down on and pick on other macaw kids, especially if they have quirks such as Bia's scientific talent and Phobos and Deimos's unusually small size."

"She is also a sort of a 'queen bee' of her group," added Felixt, "The others often treat her like a powerful leader who they dare not question her opinions and actions."

"Is that bratty Spix macaw and her clique like those troublesome toucans you often face problems with back in Rio?" asked Mariposa to Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus.

"No," said Titan, "Those toucans play naughty tricks on other birds and mammals. Aguamarina and her group are more snide-remark makers than serious pranksters."

"Huh, I think that Tiago and Matilda's pranks can be very silly at times," said Tethys and with that, she shot Tiago and Matilda a glare. The two, however, just smiled.

"At least we're not like those troublesome toucans, Tethys," said Tiago.

"Yep," said Matilda in agreement. Io was about to say something when she heard her name, alongside Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre's names get called. At this, the four scarlet and three green-winged macaws turned and saw two familiar forms hovering in the dark.

"Oh, aye, our dads are waiting for us," said Io, recognising the two forms as Jupiter and Mars, "It's time for us to return to our tribe."

"It is getting late after all," said Charon, eyes on the setting sun. The sun was by now, completely under the horizon and the darkness of the night was slowly creeping in, chasing away the brighter azure blue of the daytime sky. Tiny flecks of light were slowly emerging from the cover of the sun's light and a ball of silver, indicating the moon in its waxing gibbous phase, hovered close to the eastern horizon.

"Alright, we'll see you lot some other time," said Carla as she hugged Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and then Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre. Then the red macaws turned and hugged Tiago, Bia and then the other chicks present. As he hugged Bia, Ganymede said, "Don't let that brat Aguamarina's words get you down. She's just trying to make you feel inferior."

Bia, at this, sighed and broke the hug with him.

"She always seems to target me a lot," she murmured.

"She's just extremely jealous. That's what it is," said Blueberry, "Just ignore her."

Bia nodded in agreement but the pain from Aguamarina's scathing comment still stung, the feelings of anger and sadness still being agitated by the hurt. Then as the red macaws continued going through with hugging the others a few at a time, Virgil walked in.

"I think next time Aguamarina dares interrupt our meeting," he said, "We're gonna chase her out for she is not welcome anywhere near our meeting spot."

Bia then gazed at him. "Well, I'm gonna go to Raul when we return to the ravine," she said in an edgy voice. At this, Virgil shot her a brief look but then he changed his expression before Bia could see his reaction.

"Um, yeah, okay," he said, "I hope he'll offer some words of comfort."

However, under the encouraging remark, Virgil felt a bit jealous. He had feelings for Bia but was too afraid and shy to show it. This was quite unusual for such a tough macaw. Virgil was defensive and yet he was too soft to tell Bia that he had feelings for her. Virgil had hoped that the feelings would fade and that he would develop feelings for another female macaw from the Spix macaw tribe. After all, Bia was one of his friends and she seemed to prefer Raul to him, so why bother, especially if it's going to cause conflict? As Virgil thought about this, Justin came over to him.

"I forgot to mention," he said, "Mom and Dad told us that we're gonna stay in the hollows of Grandma, Uncle Viento and cousin Nuvem and Mrs Cassia for the coming few nights, Virgil. "Mom and Dad would like some lone time."

"Really?" said Virgil.

"It's just to give them a break," said Matilda, "Especially after three long years of raising the four of us which has been at times hard work."

"They haven't had much lone time together for a good while," said Charlotte, "So it's no surprise they want us to stay with Grandma, Uncle Viento and Cousin Nuvem, really."

Justin nodded in agreement. Just then, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre had flown over to Mars and Jupiter who waited a short distance away. Then a few seconds later, the red macaws had disappeared into the darkening trees, heading in the direction of the red tribe's territory.

Around three hours later, night had finally enveloped the sky and the rainforest completely. The rest of Carla's group had returned to their respective tribes, clans or small groups in the case of Alessandro and Mariposa. The night sky was almost cloudless and the Milky Way was visible as a large smear of glittering stars across the black canvas of the sky. The moon appeared as an incomplete circle of silver in the sky, only a crescent of it missing, but its light still shone beautifully onto the dark jungle. In the Spix macaws' ravine, the majority of the Spix macaw tribe had returned to their hollows to turn in for the night. Parents and relatives put chicks to bed while they went to bed themselves, or fly out into the dark night air hanging over the ravine to admire the stars. One couple was doing just that. Zephyr and Venus were perched on a tree above one of the ravine cliffs. They were glad to have the lone time break they had longed for so long which was why Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil had been sent to stay with relatives for a few days. As the two gazed into the star-studded sky, Venus murmured, "Oh isn't God's creation so beautiful when you're away from any city and the light pollution it pours out…"

"It's one of the advantages of living in the wilderness, Venus," said Zephyr as he also gazed at the sky, "The Milky Way is much more glorious when viewed away from human places like cities."

Venus sighed dreamily as she gazed at the sea of stars flowing like a river of glitter across the another thought came to her head.

"You know something, it won't be long now until our four chicks fly the nest," she murmured sadly, "Two or three years later they'll be moving into independence."

"Well, that's a fact of life, I'm afraid my star flower," said Zephyr, "Offspring cannot stay in the care of their parents forever."

Venus sighed for this was without a doubt a fact. She gazed at the star-studded sky as memories of raising Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil from when they had hatched until now, and all the challenges and pleasures she had faced, flashed in her mind.

"But when they decide to find mates and have chicks of their own," added Zephyr, trying to lift Venus's sadness, "We'll become proud grandparents. It's a real pleasure to see our kids grow up and have kids of their own."

"Blu and Jewel will be facing the same sadness when Carla, Bia and Tiago reach the age of leaving the nest as well," said Venus, gazing at her mate with a sorrowful look, "Mind you they have their second brood of two chicks to look forward to when they hatch."

"Speaking of having a second brood, we did mention having one as well," said Zephyr, "And when we plan and implement it, it will be our first brood born in the wild. Our first clutch of four chicks was born in Rio."

"Boy, how I remember their hatching and birth as though it were yesterday," said Venus, "Despite it being over three years ago now."

Her amber eyes returned to gazing at the night sky. "I also remember the ecstatic looks on Blu and Jewel's faces when they saw our four chicks for the first time."

She then turned and faced Zephyr once again. "And I think our four chicks would have been the possible future mates of Carla, Bia and Tiago had the Spix macaw tribe not been discovered by Tulio and Linda."

"Well, their choice of possible mates in the future has expanded now that we have found the tribe but you're right, had our tribe not been discovered alive and well after the fire that tore me, Mom, Dad, Brisa and Jewel from them years ago," said Zephyr, "Carla and Bia would have been restricted to the choice of Justin and Virgil while Tiago's choice would have been limited to just Charlotte or Matilda."

Venus sighed. "But speaking of that, I've noticed that Tiago and Matilda have bonded quite well, has had Carla and Justin," she said, "As for Bia, she seems to be getting on fine with Raul. He seems like a nice young chick."

Zephyr, however, wore a slightly disagreeing look.

"I don't know," he murmured, "I've been told that he often has problems with trying to fit in with the popular crowd of kids. If that is true, then Bia might face some problems."

"Problems?" repeated Venus confused.

"Well, popular crowds, or 'cool kids' as they are sometimes called, I often disapprove of," said Zephyr with a frown, "They tend to be a bit prone to pride and condescending to some of the other kids. When I, Jewel, Roberto and Brisa and the rest of us were young, we always avoided Mertle's clique because they were a bad influence. They were always bragging and boasting and Mertle was the 'queen bee' of the group, just like how her daughter Aguamarina is the queen bee of her clique now."

Zephyr then breathed a sigh, "But then again, it would be wrong of me to control Bia and decide who she should mix with. I just hope Raul is a good friend to her."

"I hope so too," said Venus. The two macaws' eyes then travelled to the sky to stare at the stars. The starry sky, alongside the quiet, dark night, was an opportunity for some romantic time together, though Venus had been unnerved about flying out into the night air and perching on a tree above the ravine cliffs, for the forest at night still greatly scared her. The memories of being chased by those flying furry creatures with membranous wings, their faces plastered with scorn, mockery and the desire to kill her, through the dark forest was still fresh in her mind even after all these years. However, when Venus was with someone, especially her beloved mate Zephyr, she was more at ease. Venus then felt an unknown force pull her towards Zephyr and make her lean her head onto his shoulder. In response, Zephyr leaned his head onto her crown and then drape a wing over her back.

"But coming back to our four kids leaving the nest eventually," Venus murmured, "It's going to feel like as if we've never had any kids."

"I understand the feeling," said Zephyr, "Mom and Dad went through this when Brisa and I were approaching that age before we were separated by the chaos caused by the smugglers."

"It must have felt horrible," murmured Venus, "Being the only family of Spix macaws in a community, wasn't it?"

"It was," said Zephyr, "For years from the fiery disaster when we were torn from our tribe until Brisa and met you and your friends, we thought we were the only Spix macaws left alive in the whole world."

"It must have been a surprise to discover two more macaws like yourself and Brisa," said Venus, referring to Blu and herself, "and also Jewel being alive and well…"

"Indeed it was," said Zephyr with a smile of his own, "Especially when she was now the mother of three chicks. For years we had never seen other Spix macaw chicks but back then I and Brisa were downright arrogant, human-hating brats with a strong prejudice against macaws that had lived with humans."

"But you eventually softened and learned to trust well-meaning humans, especially after you suffered a fractured wing at the paws of that infamous Brutus the cat," said Venus, "They were only wanting what was best for our species. True they were being too earnest in us having chicks and that but they did take care of us well."

Zephyr nodded in agreement. Then soon, he found himself gazing into Venus's liquid amber eyes and the sparkle of her maya blue feathers under the moonlight reflected from the gibbous moon. Venus's plumage appeared to glow and shine like a silvery fish under the water.

"You know something," whispered Zephyr romantically, "You certainly do appear stunning under the moonlight."

Venus gazed into his green eyes. "It's fascinating how much things look different at night than they do in the day, don't they?" she murmured in a soft voice. She then saw that Zephyr's green eyes were shimmering with love. Then next, the two macaws slowly leaned in until their foreheads and beaks touched each other. Venus's wings snaked around Zephyr's neck and the two were locked in a romantic embrace.

"You know this reminds me of when we fell in love before we became mates and had our first brood," whispered Zephyr lovingly. Venus gazed into his eyes, her love for her mate bubbling within her. Then without thinking, she moved her beak towards Zephyr's and locked it in a kiss. When she broke away, Venus looked at Zephyr in surprise.

"Whoa, did I just do that?" she asked. Zephyr just smiled and wrapped his wings around her neck.

"Come here, my beautiful star flower," he grinned and with that, he pulled Venus into a very passionate kiss. His wings snaked further around Venus's back while hers did the same around his neck. The kiss lasted for a few minutes until the couple broke away, Venus's sunny amber eyes and Zephyr's emerald green eyes staring at one another romantically.

"This certainly brings back memories," whispered Venus lovingly. Then the two macaws locked beaks again into another passionate kiss. The moonlight shone around the Spix macaw couple, making their feathers appear to glow against the dark background of the night time jungle as they remained in their kiss and embrace.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- some bad news, an important talk about the dangers of smugglers**

 **Next morning**

Life in the Amazon continued to flow by at its usual pace the following day. However, something was about to unfold and it would eventually mean concern for all the macaws and other feathered residents of the Sanctuary de Amazon. At the moment, all the avian residents were free from worry and continued their daily activities. In the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's home patch, Soleado was setting up patrol groups to send out to check on things like he usually did. Among one group were Saturn and three of his chicks, Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus. Tethys, Dione and Rhea were out with friends, among them Bastian, and Mimas was out with Ganymede and some other friends. The three sons of Saturn and Orquidea often accompanied their father whenever he was selected to join a patrol group because they loved to go out sightseeing. Iapetus wanted to look for some more stones to collect, Titan wanted to get some more ideas for art and Enceladus wanted to take the opportunity to look for some butterflies. Also with the group was Brooke, one of Titan and his six siblings' friends. Like Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus, Brooke loved going out into the territory and jungle, and she sometimes attended Carla and her two siblings' meetings with Bastian, but in the last two weeks, she had been unable to attend the meeting for various reasons. Brooke's parents were named Ignacio, a member of the blue-and-gold tribe's Pit of Doom team, and his mate Sandra.

Then as soon as Soleado had prepared Saturn and Sandra's group, he began to issue them with instructions and their destination.

"Right, the areas I want you to check are around the animal hospital…" he began. As Soleado droned on, Titan let loose a yawn.

"This bit must be very boring," he murmured.

"Well, that's part of the job of our patrol group, Titan," said Saturn, "We don't just go anywhere with no destinations in mind."

"The animal hospital," said Enceladus excitedly, "I hope we get to see some humans there up to their activities, as well as some insects."

"Will we be going to the blue-and-gold tribe's border to the flying fox colony's turf?" asked Iapetus.

"No, we won't," said Sandra, "That area is off-limits to young and vulnerable macaws. Only adult macaws are allowed to examine that part."

"We're ready to go, folks," said Henrique, another male blue-and-gold macaw in this patrol group.

"Yes," said Saturn.

"Right, you know where to go?" asked Soleado. The patrol group nodded.

"Okay then, off you go," said the blue-and-golf tribe patriarch with a smile and soon, the air was filled with the flapping noises of aqua blue and yellow wings as Saturn's group took off. Henrique was leading the patrol group, which had six adults including himself, Saturn and Sandra so he flew at the front. Saturn flew at the back with Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus flanking him while Sandra and Brooke flew alongside them.

"Right, we'll start with the area around the animal hospital," said Henrique, "And then we'll head off to the guava bush grove."

The other adults all shouted in reply and with that, the patrol group of eleven headed off in the direction of the animal hospital.

In the Spix macaws' ravine, the members of Eduardo's tribe were up to their daily business. Carla, Bia, Tiago, together with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, and Felix, Jojo and Lavender, Tyler and Ricardo and their friends Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett were hanging out by the edge of the ravine pool. Tyler and Ricardo looked almost identical and very greatly resembled Nuvem with little inheritance from Cassia. Both had azure blue feathers like their father, his sheet of head feathers behind his head and a blue-white head. However, both the sons had inherited Cassia's eye colour which was green. Ricardo had lime green eyes similar to Brisa while Tyler's eyes were a darker emerald green like Zephyr. Nuvem had named Tyler after Blu's first name in his honour of helping the Spix macaw tribe to defend their home against the loggers, as Blu's full name was Tyler 'Blu' Gunderson. The two brothers were also the second cousins of Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil and Felix, Jojo and Lavender due to Nuvem being the cousin of Zephyr and Brisa. Out in the ravine pool, several other macaw chicks flew towards the lily-pads and skied on them, shouting in joy.

"Have you lot heard the news regarding Eduardo's role as leader of our tribe, you lot?" asked Jojo, shaking his head top shift some of his head feathers out of his face, "Eduardo is on about passing it to Blu and Jewel."

"They're currently having a meeting on that in the meeting tree," said Felix.

"Really?" said Carla excitedly, "That's awesome."

"Also, Mom and Dad are going to be appointed as seconds-in-command due to them being friends of Jewel, especially Dad," said Lavender, referring to Roberto, "And I think Aunt Venus and Uncle Zephyr might be part of the inner circle too."

"It's all complicated for us to understand," said Justin, glancing briefly at the kids as they skied on the lily-pads. The others nodded in agreement. Then Músculo gazed out at the chicks and some adolescent macaws as they skied on the lily-pads.

"Would you guys like to go lily-pad skiing?" he asked, "It looks like fun. We haven't done any of that for a while."

The others gathered around him as they watched a pair of adolescent chicks throw themselves onto two of the giant lily-pads and surf on them, yelping joyfully.

"Sure," said Justin.

"I would like to go as well," said Charlotte.

"As would I," said Matilda. Virgil, however, wasn't as keen.

"I would rather not," he murmured, "I always have a fear that I might lose my balance and fall into the water."

"Oh, those lily-pads are over a metre long in diameter," said Bia with an amused smile, "As long as you don't land too close to the edge of the pads you should be fine."

However, this didn't lessen Virgil's nerves and he shook his head. Then Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Tiago and Carla stood up.

"We're with you, Músculo," said Jojo.

"Us as well," said Felix and Lavender together. Then Turquesa turned to Bia and asked, "Are you gonna go lily-pad skiing as well, Bia?"

"I'm afraid I can't," said Bia sadly, "I'm going out with Raul shortly and he's gonna be here any moment."

At this, Virgil looked at her and smiled.

"He's such a nice guy, isn't he?" said Tyler. Bia nodded with a dreamy look on her face.

"I'm sure he is," said Jojo, "He's pretty good-looking as well."

"Probably as good-looking as Dad," said Lavender.

"I wonder if he could sing well as well," said Ricardo. At this, Bia shot him a frown, making Ricardo close his beak.

"So where will you two be going?" asked Garrett.

"Oh, Raul is going to tell me that when we meet," said Bia. Just then she heard her name get called. At this, she turned and saw the owner of the voice.

"Oh, there he is," she said, "I'd better be off. I'll see you guys later."

And with that, she opened her wings and took off after Raul who hovered in the distance. Turquesa smiled as she left.

"She certainly does like that guy," she said.

"Yep," said Tiago. However Felix looked sceptical.

"What's wrong, Felix?" asked Turquesa when she saw the look on the unusually crested chick's face.

"I don't know," said Felix, a frown fixed on Raul as he left the ravine with Bia, "There's something about that guy that doesn't seem right I feel."

"And what's that?" asked Tiago, "He looks like a fine guy to us for Bia to be around."

"Well you see" said Felix, "I've heard that Mr Zephyr and Mom (Brisa) don't seem to approve of Raul that much. They say he seems to be prone to wanting to get in with the popular cloud, and Aguamarina's group seems to be one of them."

"Well I'm sure Raul might have some sense," said Carla, disagreeing with the sceptical attitude of the four chicks, "After all; he seems to get on quite well with Bia."

"I agree," said Jojo, "He is a nice guy after all and he seems to like Bia's talent for scientific things like nature and ecology."

Many of the others nodded in agreement but Felix still remained sceptical about Raul. Then Músculo's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Right, are we all ready?" he asked. At this, all but Virgil stepped forward.

"Yes," said Carla.

"Absolutely," cheered Tiago excitedly. Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Ricardo, Tyler, Felix, Jojo, Lavender and Turquesa and Garrett also all cheered.

"Then let's surf on some lily-pads!" cried Músculo and with that, the group all cheered and took off for the group of chicks waiting to ski on the lily-pads. Only Virgil remained behind. He gazed after Bia and Raul.

"Oh, Bia," he whispered, "I hope you enjoy your time with Raul."

And with that, he went towards a tree, sat down and began to fiddle with a stick.

 **Meanwhile**

About half an hour after leaving the blue-and-gold tribe's home patch on the patrol trip, Henrique's patrol group had finally reached the outskirts of the animal hospital. Over the past three years, the building had been constructed in the middle of a deforested area. The name of the animal hospital was simply Sanctuary de Amazon Animal Hospital. The building had four storeys, with another further underground. The lower two floors were for the more dangerous animals like alligators and jaguars while the upper two floors were for the smaller animals like birds. The bird department was on the very top floor. As the building appeared through some vegetation, Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus gazed at it.

"That was where my Mom was taken after she got injured by a mischievous emperor tamarin monkey a month ago," said Brooke, nodding to the uppermost floor, "She was taking some chicks out with some other grownups when a troop of those tamarins attacked and caused mischief. The grownups including Mom tried driving them away to protect the chicks but one of the monkeys snapped a stick at Mom's head, striking her square in the face and inflicting a nasty cut."

Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus all flinched in shock.

"Good grief," said Titan in a low voice.

"Did the twig catch her in the eye?" asked Enceladus.

"That's what the other grownups feared," said Brooke darkly, stealing a glance from her mother Sandra who smiled, "The strike area was bleeding quite badly, so Mom was hastily rushed to that animal hospital. After an anxious wait, the grownups were relieved to hear that the twig had only struck Mom in the brow, just above the left eye and beak, but it did inflict a small gash that required stitching by the human doctors. The stick, like you've said Enceladus, would have caught Mom in the eye and she would have lost sight in it."

Iapetus then stole a glimpse from Sandra's forehead and left eye and saw a small scar, the remains of the injury Brooke had described. It resembled a small scratch but Iapetus shuddered at how close the scar was to Sandra's left eye.

"Those emperor tamarin monkeys are often very mischievous animals that sometimes can cause injury," said Brooke, "We always avoid getting involved with them because of their mischief-prone behaviour."

"I couldn't agree more," said Titan with a shudder. Iapetus and Enceladus nodded in agreement. As the patrol group of blue-and-gold macaws flew along, their eyes scanning the environment around the animal hospital, Iapetus's eyes landed on a familiar human at the entrance.

"Hey, guys," he shouted, "Is that Tulio down there? He looks very flustered."

At this, the patrol group stopped into a hover, much to Henrique's annoyance.

"What is it, Iapetus," muttered Saturn with a frown, "Don't you know that we have an important patrol job to carry out?"

"It's Tulio, Dad," said Iapetus, pointing to Tulio as he entered the animal hospital's doors, "He looks very upset."

"Upset?" asked Enceladus, "About what?"

At this, Titan rocketed towards the animal hospital doors, followed by Iapetus and Enceladus, much to Saturn's irritated dismay.

"Oi, boys, get back here," shouted the blue-and-gold father as he chased after his three sons, "Boys."

Brooke, Sandra and the other five adult macaws remained hovering in the air, looking on.

"What's it with Saturn and human matters?" asked Sandra with a curious frown.

"I don't know," said Henrique, "But because Saturn and his family know that Tulio guy so well, it seems that his behaviour is worrying them."

"Shall we continue our job without them?" asked one of the other three adult macaws, a male.

"No, let's wait for Saturn and his sons," said Henrique, "I don't want to leave them and make them think that we've abandoned them."

Then the five adults and Brooke remained hovering in the air to wait for Saturn and his sons to return. As Iapetus, Enceladus and Titan reached the animal hospital's entrance doors to reception with Saturn behind them, angrily shouting their names, the three stopped by an open window to listen to Tulio. Saturn then landed by the brothers and began to rebuke them but then he stopped when he saw Tulio through the window. Based on Iapetus's observations of his body language, Tulio did indeed look flustered and worried. He was trembling as though cold and his face was plastered with stress. Then the four blue-and-gold macaws began to listen to the conversation between him and the receptionist open.

"I'm afraid we don't have good news, Alexa," said Tulio, "We've got a serious debt crisis."

"Debt crisis?" repeated Alexa the receptionist, much to Saturn, Iapetus, Titan and Enceladus's shock.

"Yes," said Tulio. His face then fell into his hands as he continued lamenting about the problem.

"I've just received a letter regarding that and it also says that if we don't pay off the debt, the Sanctuary de Amazon's status as a protected reserve will be removed…"

More shock hit the four listeners like a small stone.

"A debt is threatening the Sanctuary de Amazon?" murmured Iapetus.

"That doesn't sound good," murmured Titan. Saturn then put his wings on his sons' shoulders.

"Well, whatever that is, it's not important," said he firmly, "This is a human matter and we're not to get too involved with human matters. Let's return to our patrol group."

At this, Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus reluctantly pulled their gaze away from the stressed Tulio and followed their father back to the waiting patrol group in the air. However, as the four left, Titan heard Tulio talk about a Lear's macaw to pick up in Guyana. Shrugging it off, Titan followed his brothers and father to the patrol group.

 **Later**

Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus, and Brooke were back in the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's territory after finishing the patrol trip with Saturn and the other five adult macaws. They had flown to the small Brazil nut tree cluster that resided deep in the territory of the blue-and-gold macaws with Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Mimas, the sisters of the three brothers, and Ganymede. Brooke distributed some Brazil nuts to the other eight.

"Here's a delicious Brazil nut treat," she said, handing one to Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus and another to Mimas and Ganymede. Because of the limited number of Brazil nuts available in the territory, the blue-and-gold macaws and any visitors always had shared one Brazil nut between up to three birds or more for chicks, as there weren't enough for one each of the macaws. Around the group, flashes of aqua blue, slightly darker blue, yellow and green indicated the presence of blue-and-gold macaws flying arounds. As Brooke then another Brazil nut to Tethys, Dione and Rhea, before going over to Mimas and Ganymede to eat some of their Brazil nut with them, Mimas wore an excited smile on her beak.

"Boy, I remember opening one of these for the first time," she said, "It wasn't easy, I can tell you. It took me about seven tries to finally get it right."

"For some macaws it does take many tries," said Brooke as she ate some of the edible parts of the nut, "It took me about four tries to open my first one."

"It's actually Aunt Jewel's favourite food, didn't you guys know?" said Ganymede.

"Are they?" asked Brooke.

"They always have been since she was a chick, she told us," said Mimas, "Uncle Blu, however, doesn't seem too keen on them."

"Huh, he's never been too keen on a lot of things in the jungle," muttered Tethys with some Brazil nut in her beak, "Spiders, other creepie-crawlies, Brazil nuts…"

"Well, he's making progress in adapting to the wild, according to Dad," said Dione with a smile, "He's slowly becoming less reliant on his fanny pack and human things."

"But to hear that Uncle Blu tried to lead Aunt Jewel, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Uncle Nico, Uncle Pedro and Uncle Rafael to Manaus with a GPS was absolutely hilarious and ridiculous at the same time," said Rhea with an amused smile, "Carla told us that they had been east, west, up and down Brazil other than Manaus or the Amazon for a few days."

"I don't see why Mr Blu would use one of them guidance device thingies for humans to help find this place anyway," muttered Brooke with a frown.

"Glad we didn't take a GPS with us when we followed their flight path to here," said Mimas, "Otherwise we would have probably got lost as well."

"Uncle Jupiter knew that taking human things with us wasn't necessary anyway," said Enceladus. The others apart from Brooke all nodded in agreement. Then Tethys saw Titan with his chin in his wing resting on an elevated kink in the branch, staring seemingly worriedly into space.

"What's wrong, Titan?" asked Tethys.

"I'm concerned for our human friend Tulio," replied Titan, "While I, Brooke, Dad and my two brothers here were flying out with a patrol group around the animal hospital, we saw him enter the reception entrance and talk with that woman in charge about something troubling. He was wracked with stress and anxiety. Apparently some debt is threatening the Sanctuary de Amazon's status as a protected nature reserve…"

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," said Dione unworried as she ate a piece of the innards of the Brazil nut, "They'll sort it out."

"Yeah, but what if this problem turns out to be a serious crisis?" asked Iapetus, "If this reaches the ears of all the other residents in the Sanctuary…"

"Iapetus, please," said Dione firmly, "You'll cause the rest of us worry if you keep on and on about that. Our human friends will sort it out. Let's just not worry about it, okay?"

Iapetus and Titan sighed as Enceladus said, "It is a human matter after all."

"Well, that's another human-based concept I'll never grasp anyway," said Brooke, "So why get involved anyway?"

"That's right," said Ganymede as he ate another piece of the Brazil nut. Then the group of eight blue-and-gold macaw chicks and scarlet macaw chick continued eating their Brazil nuts.

 **In the territory of the blue-throated clan and Bluewing hyacinth Clan**

Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur followed their father Cobalto through the trees dotted with navy blue, dark blue and rich yellow and yellow-orange flashes of hyacinth and blue-throated macaws. The three blue-throated brothers were having an outing with their father while Ceres was somewhere else gathering some fruit for the family's hollow. Cobalto wanted to discuss an important subject with his sons. As soon as the four had found a papaya tree, they headed for it and perched onto the branches. Cobalto then picked two guavas and gave one to his sons to share while he took the other for himself. As soon as he was ready after eating and swallowing his first bite from the papaya, Cobalto opened up the talk.

"Right, let me remind you three about my younger sister and her demise before we get to the main subject about smugglers and their dangers," he said, Aurelio, Azul and Wilbur listening intently while eating their papaya together. "This happened while I was still a chick and before the fire that tore me from my clan and the Bluewings before I met your mother."

"While my mom, dad and us two were on an outing like how we are now," said Cobalto, "(Back then our home hadn't been part of a nature reserve as it is now), my sister, who would have been your paternal aunt, had wandered away from our side while we stopped to observe a family of capybaras on the ground floor. Apparently her curiosity was what dragged her away from Mom and Dad's side…"

The brothers continued listening.

"And then a while later, she got caught in a net set up by a group of poachers," added Cobalto, "When we arrived at where she had been caught after hearing her distressed cries, we discovered that the net had been covered up with leaves and forest debris to hide it from unsuspecting animals. We tried getting her out but couldn't do so due to the threads being very strong. Then when the poachers, those humans who had set up the trap, came in to collect their catch, my parents viciously attacked them but were overpowered. Dad was caught and Mom was brutally injured. I was not able to do anything because I was too young and vulnerable," Cobalto shuddered at these memories, a tear falling down his cheek. Aurelio, Azul and Wilbur continued listening on, shuddering as well. "And since that incident, I never saw my dad and sister again but Mom died of her injuries after being taken back to our home patch."

Cobalto then managed to swallow the sadness about his family's demise and moved on. "And that, my sons, is just one example of thousands of birds and other animals who have been captured and taken away by poachers. It had happened to Venus and Mercury when they were chicks and also to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and your mother Ceres when they were young as well, apparently…"

Wilbur and Azul looked at each other and shrugged before turning back to their dad, still eating from their papaya with Aurelio.

"…And last year, Flor, the youngest chick of Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, was almost taken away by smugglers as well during her family and Neptune's trip to Rio," added Cobalto. He then turned serious, a stern look crossing his face.

"Now, my boys listen up," he said firmly, "This is very important. To start off, smugglers are dangerous to approach. Thankfully, after the incident with those sneaky smugglers that have managed to sneak into the Sanctuary de Amazon three years ago, our human friends have tightened security to reduce the likelihood of them getting through…"

Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur nodded, remembering the incident and events of Lysandre's group's intrusion into the Sanctuary de Amazon.

"But outside," said Cobalto, "It's a different story. There are many ways a smuggler may catch animals but the two most common tricks are stealth with a net gun, like the ones Tulio and his team sometimes use to catch animals but in the smugglers' hands, it is for poaching and not conservation or other good thing, and the other is setting up traps and disguising them in such a way that they appear to be an ordinary part of the environment…"

The brothers continued listening.

"The first trick, sneaking up on an animal with a net gun, is most often used for arboreal or tree animals like us parrots and monkeys," said Cobalto, "Can any of you tell me why a poacher uses this tactic to approach an animal?"

"To ensure that his target isn't alerted?" said Wilbur.

"That is correct son," said Cobalto, "It is exactly how a jaguar stalks its prey. In the same way, a poacher stalks his target and when he is close enough, he shoots the animal down with a net, entangling him. Roberto from the Spix macaw tribe, when he was a chick, ended up getting caught through this method. The second common trick, the disguising of traps, is craftier. Rather than catching animals directly, some poachers prefer to set up traps, such as cages or nets, and then cover them up with, say forest material like leaves, dirt, sticks."

"That's to ensure that the animal does not see the trap, isn't it?" said Aurelio. Cobalto nodded.

"That's exactly true, Aurelio," he said, "This trick is often used to catch forest floor animals like capybaras and even jaguars. Another type of trap that is often disguised are what is known as leg traps."

Cobalto then positioned his wings in such a way that his flight feathers resembled jaws, "They're like an alligator's jaws but with a trigger pad in the middle and the jaws are clamped open wide ready for an unsuspecting target to come along and step onto the trigger pad. They're perhaps the most inhumane things that have been invented to catch animals, as they snap shut on an animal's leg when it steps onto it."

The three brothers flinched at this as they imagined something like a jaguar getting its paw caught in one of those jaw-based traps. Cobalto then folded his wings and took another bite out of his papaya.

"And that's it," he said, "They're the basic facts you need to know about smugglers and how to be aware of them. Now for the important bit of the talk…"

The brothers listened intently though Azul's attention diverted slightly.

"Azul, could you pay attention please," said Cobalto firmly. Azul obeyed.

"And that bit is this," Cobalto said. He then hardened his gaze. "You are to stay WELL AWAY from any groups if humans when you decide to travel to Rio or Manaus because once you're outside the Sanctuary de Amazon, you're more vulnerable to getting caught by poachers among other things."

Aurelio, Azul and Wilbur nodded to show that they understood, much to Cobalto's gladness.

"The next thing is, you must travel in groups and stick by your companions and also make sure that they don't wander off," added Cobalto, "This is important. Flor did just that and ended up running into a disguised trap. Had Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Ultramarine and Neptune not been within earshot, she wouldn't have been fortunate. In the event of that happening, you must take immediate action. Remember our self-defence tools: our beaks and claws."

Cobalto indicated to these parts of the body. "You must apply these to those poachers to get them to release your companion. Then you are to free your companion and then retreat without hesitation. We'll cover that in a practical lesson with Lydia from the Bluewing Clan a little while later when she takes the nest class of young chicks out on a lesson of freeing companions from smugglers' hands."

"I have a question, Father," said Azul.

"Yes," said Cobalto.

"Are we allowed to go to Rio by ourselves?" asked Azul.

"I'm afraid you're too young, Azul," said Cobalto much to Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur's disappointment. "I'm sorry but though you are approaching adolescence, you still need adult supervision for trips to Rio."

Cobalto then glanced in the direction of the blue-throated macaw clan and Bluewings' home patch and said, "And I think it's time we headed back to our home trees. Ceres will be preparing us some lunch. Let's go, boys."

And with that, he opened his wings and took off, Wilbur, Azul and Aurelio in tow.

"Now, remember what we've talked about," said Cobalto as the four disappeared into the trees, "It could mean a matter of life or death if you ever get caught by smugglers when you boys become old enough to travel by yourself…"

The three male blue-throated macaws all nodded in agreement and then the four macaws disappeared into the trees.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- enormous drops into despair and upset**

Two days later, in the Spix tribe's ravine, Carla and her brother, Tiago, together with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and their cousins Jojo, Felix, Lavender and second cousins Tyler and Ricardo were perched in a tree with some of their friends from the other macaw tribes and clans. With the Spix macaws were Phoebe and Jasmine, two of Mercury and Sapphire's daughters; Annette was back in the Lear's macaw tribe's ravine; Io and Europa from the red tribe; Tethys, Dione and Rhea from the blue-and-gold tribe, Miranda, Ariel and Oberon from the green tribe, and Alessandro the chestnut-fronted macaw and Mariposa the blue-headed macaw. Sapphire, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Alessandro's mother and Skyla, the mother of Mariposa had come to visit some friends in the Spix tribe's ravine including Zephyr and Venus to catch up on things and the chicks had accompanied them for they wanted to visit Carla and company. Around Carla's group, cerulean and blue forms dotted the air above the ravine pool, the clay licks around it, and the trees and cliffs. Miranda was drawing the ravine waterfall to add to her collection of pictures. While she did this, Oberon smiled to her sister.

"She sure is excellent at art, isn't she?" he said, "You should have seen the drawings she had done of Eustace, Milo and Rosa during our trip to Rio last year with Uncle Saturn's family. She's got their crests spot on."

"Eustace, Milo and Rosa?" asked Alessandro confused.

"They're three cockatoo friends of ours back in Rio," said Justin, "They're half sulfur-crested, half Major Mitchell's cockatoo hybrids. Their mother was a Major Mitchell's and their father was a sulfur-crested."

"Oh, I see," said Alessandro, "I have never really met them yet."

"Neither have I but we would love to meet them," said Mariposa. The two then gazed at Miranda as she sat there on a large branch with a pot of pencils next to her and her nose in her art book propped on a y-shaped twig with an extra one coming up in front, drawing the waterfall and colouring it in.

"Bia also likes drawing things as well," said Tiago, "However, she tends to draw more nature based things than just general things like Miranda does."

"I know, I've seen her drawings," said Mariposa. Then Io looked around the ravine.

"Where is Bia, anyway?" she asked.

"She's out with Raul as usual," said Carla, "This time they've gone to the Brazil nut grove."

"She's been spending a lot of time with that guy as of recent, isn't she?" said Europa.

"Are they on their way to becoming a couple?" asked Phoebe. Jasmine, at this, flinched with utter shock.

"Good grief, Phoebe!?" she shouted, "What kind of a question is that!?"

Phoebe, at this, went bright red under the dark teal facial feathers.

"It's alright," said Carla with a smile, "It seems likely. Bia told us that she likes to be with Raul a lot."

"Have any of you been spending a lot of time with anyone from your tribes or clans or groups lately?" asked Tiago.

"Our brother Ganymede has with Mimas," said Io, "I don't know about anyone else who have become close friends with someone of the opposite gender yet, have they?"

Jojo, Felix and Lavender, Tyler and Ricardo, at this question, shook their heads.

"We don't feel ready for going out with someone yet," said Jojo.

"Neither are we," said the other four together.

"We don't feel ready for that either," said Tethys. Dione and Rhea, her near-identical sisters all nodded in agreement. Ariel then spoke up.

"I did go out with a male chick from my tribe once," she said, "But he turned out to be very snooty so I just left him because I wasn't going to allow his attitude to influence me for one and he wouldn't stop talking rudely and nastily about you lot for another, especially about Ganymede and Mimas based on their differences in species and their choosing to go out together a lot."

"It's a good thing you've left him, Ariel," said Jojo, "I always avoid girls in our tribe like that as well."

"I wouldn't go out with young male macaws with an attitude like that either," said Charlotte, "Spoilt attitude always makes me nauseated."

"I couldn't agree to that more," said Matilda sourly. Virgil nodded in agreement. He was gazing out into the air of the ravine but had heard Matilda say the comment.

"What's wrong, Virgil?" asked Dione concerned. Virgil, at this, snapped out of his daydream-like state and gazed at the blue-and-gold macaw.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, "Just thinking."

"About what?" asked Rhea. Virgil, at this, did not reply. Just then, a mocking voice sounded nearby.

"Well, hello, Carla the Fatty and Tiago the Menace and some of your puny little friends."

At this, all heads flinched in annoyance, especially Carla and Tiago's, and snapped to the speaker, a young female Spix macaw with two more behind her. However, it wasn't Aguamarina but three of her friends. One was a female and the other was a male, and all three wore condescending looks on their faces as their eyes raked over the colourful gathering.

"What do you want, Claudia, Benita and Camilo!?" snarled Jojo fiercely, his head feathers which strongly resembled his dad's spiking out with anger. The others also glared back at the trio very bemused, and Carla and Tiago looked offended at what the speaker, Claudia, had called them.

"Just dropping by," replied Claudia cheekily. Her eyes then travelled over to Miranda who was too focussed on drawing the waterfall to be aware of the three bratty macaws' presence.

"What is that little green bird doing over there?" asked Benita nastily, "Drawing some random object or sommat?"

Virgil, Charlotte and Justin, at this, ducked, poised to leap at the three bratty macaws in case they decided to snatch Miranda's book and perhaps damage it.

"Don't you even _think_ of bothering Miranda, you three," growled Charlotte.

"Just wondering what she is up to," replied Camillo immaturely. Pulling their curious gaze off Miranda as she continued painting the waterfall, the three brats' eyes focused on the rest of the group.

"So, how are you lot doin'?" asked Claudia in a bratty voice. She then glared at Tiago and Matilda. "Not planning on any pranks today, eh, Tiago the Menace and Matilda the Minx?"

Tiago and Matilda flinched at the nicknames Claudia had given them and didn't reply. Then Claudia's eyes travelled to Jojo, Felix and Lavender. "And I suppose your father isn't gonna challenge the leader of the red tribe to a fight again, is he?"

The three offspring of Roberto and Brisa flinched disgustedly at the insult. Roberto's history of his enmity with Felipe was not something to laugh about. Then Io reached toward a bunch of acai berries and picked them.

"I think you should ask yourselves how your own group is doing rather than ours instead, Claudia," she retorted rhetorically and began munching on the berries, "Maybe they're puffed up with pride like a porcupine's spines at being the most popular Spix macaws of all the chicks in the Spix macaw tribe with Aguamarina as your leader. But that's none of our business."

This wiped the condescending smiles off Claudia, Benita and Camillo's faces like a slap across each of their faces and they gazed back at the young scarlet macaw as she continued eating the berries, stunned at her boldness. Then Claudia's face creased into a scowl and the tone of her voice soon changed to an equally scowling expression. Darting forward, much to the shock of the group, and shoved her beak into Io's face, startling her and making her drop the berries. Miranda snapped round, distracted by the commotion.

"You're lucky Aguamarina isn't here, you cheeky red-feathered brat," hissed Claudia bitterly into Io's face, "She would have been seriously enraged."

Then she heftily pushed Io back into her group with her wings, sending her crashing into Europa, Tethys, Dione and Rhea as they caught her. This sent disgust and rage flaring through the others, especially the Spix macaws, like flames through a cloud of flammable gas.

"Look, if you're gonna be nasty like that," bellowed Carla angrily, her feathers puffed out, "Then I suggest you leave."

"Or we'll bring Eduardo here," added Justin. This was enough to frighten the trio of bratty macaws, especially Claudia. Facing the fury of Eduardo's reprimands? That was like provoking a mother jaguar by threatening her cubs. Shuddering at this threat, Claudia nodded to her two companions and said, "Let's get outa here before that lad acts out his threat."

And within a few flaps, the trio was gone. Ricardo and Tyler fluttered in, a smug look as they watched the three leave.

"Nice one, Justin," said Tyler, "I thought those three would never leave."

"An effective idea as well," said Ricardo, "At least that has brought out the cowards that they really are."

Justin sat back, smug at his boldness. Then the others turned to Io, who looked rather shaken.

"Are you alright, Io?" asked Alessandro.

"I'm fine, thanks," said Io. She then felt her chest where Claudia's wings made brutal contact, stunned at Claudia's action. Then Europa's blue eyes flared and her red feathers bristled.

"I can't believe Claudia had the audacity to do that to my sister!" Europa barked.

"Yeah but she didn't push her like that," said Tethys. Then Mariposa glared after Claudia, Benita and Camillo who were by now small dots against the pale sandy colour of the cliffs, her feathers raised.

"It seems to me they don't like having their pride bruised," she muttered.

"Well, I don't care," said Carla angrily, "If what Claudia did to Io reaches the ears of her mother, she's gonna go berserk."

That was true. If Ruby or Jupiter found out how Claudia had treated Io by pushing her backward hard like that, it was likely that they would be very angry, and Jupiter sometimes did have a temper on him. Miranda then perched by Carla and Tiago, a shocked and angered look on her face and her green, blue, red and yellow plumage bristled.

"Just what in the world was that all about!?" she growled.

"Just three of Aguamarina's friends being stupid, bratty and condescending," muttered Ariel.

"I just saw one of them give Io a hefty push," said Miranda, "Do you think we should tell someone?"

"I think that's a good idea," said Oberon. Then Miranda frowned in the direction in which Claudia and her two companions had left. But before any of the macaws could take off to look for an adult, the sound of flapping wings reached their ears. Justin glared at the source of the sound.

"Now what's up?" he growled in irritation. The others followed his glare and saw that the flapping wings' owners belonged to a familiar blue form. Then the form spoke.

"Eduardo, Jewel!" it cried, "EDUARDO!"

This sent wonder splashing through the group and they exchanged confused glances. The blue form was Blu and he looked panicked.

"Looks as though Mr Blu has just had a close brush with death at the talons of a harpy eagle," said Phoebe, commenting on Blu's appearance, which featured widened brown eyes, bushed blue feathers and rapidly beating wings. The group then watched as two non-Spix forms, one red with blue and yellow wings and the other aqua blue and yellow flew up to him.

"What is it, Blu?" asked Ruby.

"I'm looking for Eduardo and Jewel, especially the former," replied Blu, "I have an urgent message for him. This message is also for your tribe leaders."

At this, Ruby and Orquidea looked at each other. Then Ruby made a serious face.

"Right, I'll search for him," she said and with that, she rocketed off for the direction of the ravine while Blu and Orquidea entered into conversation after Orquidea had asked Blu what was wrong. Carla and the others with her looked on and then opened their wings. Miranda went over to collect her pot of pencils and book before following. As the group of eleven Spix macaws, two Lear's macaws, two scarlet macaws, three blue-and-gold macaws, three great green macaws, chestnut-fronted macaw and blue-headed macaw approached the spot where Orquidea and Blu landed, they began to listen to the conversation. Blu's panicked behaviour had also attracted the attention of some more macaws, namely Roberto, Zephyr, Sapphire and Esmeralda and they had flown over to Blu to see what was wrong. Blu certainly did look much panicked. His feathers were on end, his eyes wide with stress and he was shaking all over. He practically looked as though he had seen a monster, or as Phoebe put it, a lucky escape from a harpy eagle.

"It is not good, folks," murmured Blu, "The Sanctuary de Amazon, that is this entire area including the homes of the Lear's, the green, the red, blue-and-gold and glaucous tribes, the blue-throated macaw clan and the two hyacinth macaw clans, as well as the patches of unowned area, is at stake."

"How is it at stake?" asked Esmeralda worriedly. But nothing could prepare the group, certainly not Carla and the others with her, for what Blu said next.

"I've just been to the animal hospital with Jupiter, Ganymede, Callisto, Mars, Phobos, Deimos, Mercury, Annette, and Pluto and Charon on an outing together when we saw Tulio talk with a group of some of the animal doctors and receptionists at the front of the building, and what they've been talking about isn't good. Based on what we've heard from them, the team is struggling to pay the debts threatening to take away the Sanctuary de Amazon's status as a protected nature reserve…"

At this, heads jerked upward in utter horror. Carla and her group's beaks dropped open.

"It can't be," whispered Io in a shocked voice. Tethys, Dione and Rhea also looked on in disbelief.

"It's exactly what Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus, our three brothers told us and Mimas a few days ago," said Dione.

"But can't our human friends find enough money to pay off these debts?" asked Zephyr, Roberto standing next to him looking on with hope, and Sapphire and Esmeralda also standing there, unable to take the news in. Blu shook his head.

"They're trying their hardest but the debt mountain is just too high," replied Blu sadly, "And they have just a month to get the debts paid or they'll lose the Sanctuary de Amazon. At the rate our human friends are finding income, the chances of them not paying off the entire debt by the deadline are very slim…"

Sharp gasps were drawn in by the young macaws.

"Did I just hear that right?" asked Miranda who hovered with her pencil pot and painting book in her talons.

"Don't tell us we're gonna go back to the dark days before our homes were set up as a protected reserve," murmured Jojo, and the others all knew what that meant. If the Sanctuary de Amazon's status as a protected nature reserve was lifted, all the animal residents living on it will be facing an increased risk of poacher and logging intrusions once again, like the days before Tulio and Linda set up the area on which the Spix tribe's ravine was situated as a protected nature reserve.

"This is just like what happened at the Blu Bird Sanctuary when Tulio and Linda had to buy the land in order to protect our homes," said Jasmine, remembering a similar money-based threat the Blu Bird Sanctuary faced before the events of Blu and company's journey into the Amazon, "If it weren't for Blu and his family who had found that colony of new species of bats (not the flying foxes), we would have lost our homes without a doubt."

"Now it seems that history is repeating itself," said Justin darkly, "Only this time, it is here."

Then the group's ears picked up the sound of a pair of flapping wings. At this, they turned in the sources' direction.

"Aunt Ruby and Mr Eduardo are coming," called Phoebe. At this, the group saw the patriarch of the Spix macaw tribe and Io and Europa's mother fly their direction and moved out of the way to let Eduardo and Ruby through.

 **Hours later**

The news of the crisis had spread like wildfire throughout the sanctuary and it had been received with horror and worry, especially by the leaders. Then as the sun began to sink towards its setting point in the western horizon, Eduardo had called together all the tribe and clan leaders and inner circle birds into a meeting to discuss the situation. What seemed an insignificant tip of a nasty tree with thorns as observed by Saturn, Titan, Iapetus and Enceladus a few days ago has finally revealed its full body. In a large meeting tree situated just in the centre of the Sanctuary de Amazon in a patch of unowned area, all the tribe and clan leaders and their inner circle birds had gathered. This tree was similar to a kapok tree, and it was used as a meeting spot for tribe and clan leader discussions on significant threats. Those gathered were Eduardo and Mimi, Blu and Jewel from the Spix macaw tribe, Felipe and Pearl from the red macaws, Alonso and Verde from the green macaws, Valentino and Rosalind from the Lear's macaws, Soleado and Zoie from the blue-and-gold macaws, Reynaldo and Anita from the blue-throated macaw clan, Rudi and Valeria from the glaucous macaw tribe and the leaders of the two hyacinth macaw clans: Demetrio and Violeta from the Bluewings and Flavio from the Navyfeathers. Also gathered there were the inner circle birds of the tribe and clan leaders, among them Roberto, Brisa, Venus and Zephyr from the Spix macaw tribe. Those with eggs or chicks had left these in the responsibility of babysitters, relatives and friends until they returned. Also there were Pearl and Jupiter, Leonel the aged hyacinth macaw from the Bluewing Clan, Mercury, Sapphire and Waldo from the Lear's macaw tribe, and Marinho, Ultramarine and Neptune from the Navyfeather Clan. Eduardo opened up the meeting.

"Saludos, everyone," he said, saying the Spanish word for 'greetings', "I'd like to thank you all for making the effort to come to this meeting tree."

Around the tree, some of the birds from the smaller groups had also gathered to hear the harrowing news. However, so have some young macaws who had sneaked to the meeting tree to listen in. Carla, Tiago and Bia, who had also heard the news, were there, together with Phoebe, Justin, Jojo and Ganymede. The group was hidden in a cluster of leaves not too far away from the meeting tree.

"I can't believe our home is under threat of potentially losing its status as a nature reserve," whispered Ganymede in utter disbelief, "When Uncle Felipe and Aunt Pearl heard the news from Mom while they were playing with Benjamin, Regina and Alfonso, they almost fell off the perch."

"Mr Soleado and Mrs Zoie almost fainted in utter horror too," said Mimas.

"But I believe the biggest shock was to Mr Rudi and Mrs Valeria," said Blueberry, "They had been unsettled after hearing the news from some Spix macaw messengers."

"I heard about Dad's stressed behaviour," said Bia, "When I returned from an outing with Raul, Oberon and Ariel told me."

"Shh, the discussion's about to start," whispered Carla. The group of young chicks then tuned their ears to the gathering as Eduardo then began to mention the reason why they were here.

"I'm afraid our homes are under serious threat," murmured the Spix macaw patriarch, his sister looking down sombrely next to him. "It's a possibility that our homes are gonna be open once again to the threats of logging and poaching."

"Can our human friends fix this problem?" asked Felipe. Blu shook his head.

"From what I've heard, they are seriously struggling," he said, "They are have found some routes of income to pay off the debt but it's still not enough." He had explained to the others the definition of 'money', 'debt' and some other money-related terms before the opening of the meeting. "The debt is massive, and our human friends have just one month to pay it off by the deadline, but they are struggling to find enough income to pay it all off in time…"

As he then launched into an explanation about the threat, Jojo shot Justin, Carla, Bia and Tiago a look.

"You told us that you've faced a similar situation when you lived on the sanctuary next to Rio, didn't you?" he asked, "When Jasmine mentioned it."

"Yes," said Carla, "But it's a long story. I'll explain it properly later."

Then the group retuned their ears to the discussion. Blu had finished explaining the threat by now, and the others were throwing in possible solutions.

"Is there anything that can be done?" asked Alonso, Verde and his inner circle birds flanking him.

"I'm afraid not," said Blu sadly.

"Can't we move to the sanctuary next to Rio?" asked Flavio, much to the negative shock and distaste of Valentino, Rosalind and their inner circle birds. This was met by the shake of Blu and Jewel's heads.

"I'm afraid that's not possible," said Jewel, "The Blu Bird Sanctuary is too small to support this many birds here."

"And furthermore, we Lear's macaws prefer to live in hollows in a cliff face rather than trees," put in Valentino, "Very few of us choose to live in trees."

It was true. The ravine of the Lear's tribe had been their home for generations, and they did not want to go back to the main colony in Bahia for they preferred the company of the other tribes and clans, including the green macaws, who had been their former enemies before the sneaky poaching incident three years ago. And when it dawned upon the clan and tribe leaders that they were stuck, despair came over them like a black thundercloud.

"Then we've got nowhere to go," cried Rudi, his wings in his face, "We're just gonna revert to the dark days before our homes are set up as a protected reserve. You know what this means?"

The others knew what that meant all right.

"Yes exposure and increased vulnerability of logging and poaching," said Reynaldo, Anita and his inner circle birds flanking him. The others nodded in agreement.

"Poachers should be easy to avoid unless you're careless. We can keep an eye out for those pesky humans," said Violeta who was perched next to Demetrio and the inner circle birds of the Bluewing Clan, "But loggers…"

She trailed off when she mentioned the dreaded word, and the others looked back at her darkly. Loggers were a different story to poachers. While poachers simply stalked the forest looking for animals to catch, and thus could be avoided, loggers were more destructive. The groups shuddered as they remembered the nature of those intruders and their machines, what devastation they cause and how the destruction could easily decimate an entire tribe or clan of birds, either by taking away a valuable food source, such as a grove, or destroying the trees they called home themselves. This was what happened to a clan of hyacinth macaws, the Oscuro-Azul Clan, years and years ago. Loggers came and destroyed their home trees, with many of them dying and the survivors fleeing without a trace. The deserted habitat of the clan, or the remains of it, had since been taken over by the flying foxes who had incorporated it into their expanding land. And this thought definitely troubled Flavio, Demetrio and Violeta, and also Rudi and Valeria. If loggers came and destroyed their home patches, their entire flocks would likely face the same demise as the Oscuro-Azul Clan. This potential fate could also be faced by the other tribes and clans, including the Spix macaws. If a small clan of hyacinth macaws did not stand a chance against loggers, what chance did a larger tribe of macaws of a smaller species have? Blu knew that the Spix macaw tribe, and the other tribes as well, would not stand much of a chance either. Then Eduardo and the other tribe and clan leaders and inner circle birds continued their discussion, and soon, Carla and the others with heard grew bored of the discussion and left for their respective homes, knowing how late it was getting.

 **Next midmorning**

Carla and Tiago were hanging around in the Brazil nut grove with Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Felix, Jojo and Lavender, Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Ganymede, Mimas and Callisto. Tyler and Ricardo were visiting the blue-and-gold tribe's territory to spend some time with Mimas's six younger siblings and Brooke while Carla and company's three other friends, Turquesa, Garrett, Músculo and Charlotte were back in the ravine of the Spix macaws. The surrounding trees were decorated with a few forms of cerulean, blue and red as several Spix, scarlet and green-winged macaws flew about or were perched in the trees for this area was at the Spix/red border. The air hanging over Carla's group was sombre, like a large storm cloud pelting them with rain. Two opened but unfinished Brazil nuts lay beside the group, on a large and broad branch so that they didn't fall and potentially kill someone below. One belonged to Carla and Justin and the other to the green-winged macaw brothers but they did not feel hungry due to the shock of the news yesterday. Finally, Alexandre broke the silent air.

"There HAS to be some sort of solution to this problem threatening the sanctuary," he murmured.

"I'm afraid there isn't, bro," said Phobos as he gazed at a cluster of Brazil nuts, stuck whether to pick one or not.

"The debt crisis is a human matter," said Deimos, "But it seems that our human friends are seriously struggling based on what we've heard…"

"Carla, are we having our meeting tonight?" asked Callisto.

"We are, yes," said Carla as she sat next to Justin.

"At least we'll be able to share our emotional burdens," said Phobos with relief, "Mom and Dad back at the red tribe's home patch are devastated and struggling to cope with this news, especially Mom."

"And with a new chick to care for," added Deimos, "It's proving very difficult."

He then shuddered at the thought of his and his two brothers' little sister Gabrielle, and the other chicks, both unborn and just hatched, facing a future without the protection against loggers and poachers.

"By the time she reaches flying age," murmured Deimos in a strangled voice, "The deadline will have come and gone and our home will…"

He did not want to say 'lose its status as a protected reserve' but the others understood what he meant. Then Deimos began to weep in despair. Phobos and Alexandre went over to comfort him while the others present looked on, knowing the feeling. Callisto opened her beak to say something when suddenly; sounds of sobbing and wailing reached the ears of the group. at this, Callisto's head snapped in the direction of the sobs and wails, the heads of Carla, Tiago and Justin, Virgil, Matilda, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, and then Ganymede, Mimas, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre following her gaze last. Then seconds later, the sobbing's volume increased as the crier approached the location of the group. It was then that recognition, and a horrible feeling, crept upon the group.

"It's Bia," Callisto said to the others, "And it sounds like something has upset her."

The moment Callisto mentioned their sister's name, Carla and Tiago's wings shot out and within moments, the two siblings were airborne. Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Felix and Lavender followed and the last to leave were Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Mimas, Ganymede and Callisto. The group rocketed on through the trees until finally, they saw a familiar young female Spix macaw melt into view and retreat to a tree, floods of tears falling from her face like fountains and sobs escaping her beak. When they saw Bia in that state, the group shot over to her. As soon as they had gathered around the upset macaw, Carla and Tiago went over to Bia.

"What happened?" asked Carla. The others looked on as Bia continued sobbing. None of the others said anything but they all wore sympathetic facial expressions. Bia continued sobbing until finally, she managed to form words, but they were broken and fragmented due to her intense sobbing.

"Oh, Raul-haul-haul-haa-a-ul!" she wailed, "How could y-you d-d-do this t-to me?"

She then entered another episode of sobbing and wailing. At this, Carla flashed the others present a concerned look. Then Jojo felt a horrible feeling bloom within him.

"Oh, no," he murmured, "Don't tell me something has happened between Bia and Raul, has it?"

None of the others dared answer. Based on Bia's broken words and her state, it appeared to be true.

"What happened, sis?" asked Carla a second time, "What happened between you and Raul? Did you have a falling out or something?"

Bia struggled to put together complete words, but she finally managed to give an answer.

"No," wailed the upset macaw, "R-R-Raul told me he did not wanna be with me anymore and-and-and…"

"And?" repeated Justin.

"And…" sobbed Bia, "And he wanted to j-j-j-join that-that-that… group…"

And with that, she entered another episode of uncontrollable sobbing. At first, the group did not understand what sort of group Bia was talking about but then suspicion arose within Felix and Virgil.

"I reckon she's referring to Aguamarina's group," hissed Felix disgustedly, "Knowing them to be some of the popular kids."

"What do you mean?" asked Carla as Bia continued crying.

"What makes you say that?" asked Tiago.

"Well, you see," said Felix, "Raul often wants to get in with the popular crowd, and because Aguamarina and her clique are one such crowd, it seems that Raul had the desire to join them but he had one obstacle…"

He then nodded to Bia, making Carla and Tiago glance at her.

"Because of Bia's nature," said Felix, "Such as her intelligence and shyness, some of the 'cool kids' such as Aguamarina see her as 'weird' and a 'freak'. I have a feeling that Raul could have…"

He trailed off as reluctance to say 'dumped Bia to join Aguamarina's group because of Aguamarina's attitude towards Bia' took hold. However, the others knew what Felix was referring to and Bia began to confirm it after gaining control of her crying.

"It's true," she said in a strangled, thick voice, "Raul told me that I'm not popular like Aguamarina and her group and that Aguamarina said to him that if he wanted to join her group, she would have to get rid of me because '(they) don't want nerd bird freaks among (them)'…"

And with that, she paused, fighting the pressure of emotions as they boiled again until finally, she exploded into another episode of sobbing. Carla and Tiago hugged her while the others drew in a sharp gasp, especially Felix and Virgil.

"So it's true!?" gasped Felix in disbelief. Then Justin's feathers bristled.

"Peer pressure, honestly," he snarled, "It so often leads to trouble."

Then Virgil slapped a branch with a talon in outrage, his blue eyes ablaze with anger and electric blue feathers spiked out like an urchin's spines.

"I'm gonna GIVE THAT BRAT a piece of MY MIND WHEN I find HER for doing this to Bia!" he bellowed.

"This is definitely something we could do without in a time like this," muttered Callisto.

"Especially after hearing of the threat to our homes as a protected reserve," said Ganymede in agreement. Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Matilda, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre all voiced their agreement as well.

"We'd better take her back to the tribe," said Justin, "When Uncle Blu and Aunt Jewel hear about this, they're not gonna be impressed, I can tell you."

"Tell us about it," growled Justin bitterly, "I really hope Raul receives a good telling off."

And with that, Carla and Tiago took the still-crying Bia away, Virgil, Matilda, Justin, Jojo and Felix in tow. Before she left, Lavender said to the remaining non-Spix birds, "Are you gonna come with us?"

"Er well, we've gotta return to our tribes for lunch," said Ganymede, "But we'll accompany you for a short time."

"We wanna make sure that Bia is alright," said Mimas. Callisto, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then let's go," said Lavender and with that, the seven followed the others in the direction of the Spix tribe's ravine.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- dealing with the incident, the explanation of a story**

Later, in the ravine, Carla had told some of the older Spix macaws, including Blu and Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa, and of course, Eduardo and Mimi, everything. When Carla, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Felix and Justin, Matilda and Virgil had brought the sobbing Bia back to the ravine, they had bumped into Maximillian, Turquesa's father. When asked what had happened to Bia and Justin explained, Maximillian had rocketed off to get Blu and Jewel and some other adults. Callisto, Ganymede, Mimas, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre stood on the ravine cliffs, not wanting to get involved. The six flinched harshly when they heard Jewel's voice screech, and Phobos and Deimos literally sprang into the air.

"SOMEONE GO OUT THERE AND FIND THAT GIRL AND HER GROUP AT ONCE!"

"Good grief," murmured Ganymede, his feathers bristled from the fright, "Based on my calculations, if Aunt Jewel's temper was measured with the units of temperature, it would be right over the boiling point of water."

"More like the temperature of hot lava," said Callisto. Phobos then shuddered.

"I never liked seeing or hearing Aunt Jewel in one of her fiery tempers," he murmured, "She's even worse than a defensive mother bear over her cubs."

Just then, Alexandre saw a flash of something blue move out the corner of his eye to the left of the group. At this, he turned to face in that direction but whatever he saw fled. The other five saw him gaze in this direction.

"Something wrong, Alex?" asked Deimos.

"I thought I saw something to the left of us," said Alexandre in reply, "But when I turned, it had gone."

"Well, we don't see anything," said Mimas. Then Callisto rubbed her beak with a talon and fluttered over to the spot where the thing Alexandre believed he saw to have a further look. As she flew over to the spot, she bumped into something blue and blue-white. At this, Callisto flapped back in shock but when she found herself gazing at a young Spix macaw with green eyes and a flock of feathers on his head. The moment recognition took hold, Callisto's face morphed from a look of surprise to one of disgust and outrage. Behind her, Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Ganymede and Mimas also glared at the chick.

"Do you know what you have just DONE, RAUL!?" bellowed Callisto, her vermillion feathers, which were the same red-orange colour as her dad Jupiter's, bristling like the thorns of a rose's stem. The Spix macaw chick, named Raul, flinched at the chocolate brown storms of rage in Callisto's eyes. He knew what he had done to Bia and he clearly knew that he was in deep trouble.

"Uh… I… um…" he stammered but could not find a selection of words to make a sentence.

"You've just upset one of the granddaughters of the Spix macaw tribe patriarch," screeched Alexandre, his green eyes also ablaze with anger and disgust, "She's heartbroken. How could you do this to her?"

Finally, Raul found something to say but he struggled to formulate the words.

"Well… I… I-I-I just…"

"Just what?" asked Ganymede, "Just trying to get in with a popular crowd at the expense of such a sensitive macaw? A brilliant move (!)"

He said the last sentence with sarcasm.

"Yeah, absolutely," said Callisto, "A brilliant move toward getting yourself into some serious trouble, that is."

"We heard what had happened," put in Deimos, though he felt like jelly on the inside for he did not like confrontations. Phobos and Mimas looked on angrily and said nothing. But those two, along with Deimos knew that Raul had badly upset one of their friends.

"Do you know what Aunt Jewel and Uncle Blu are gonna do?" asked Deimos. Raul was about to answer when he heard his name get called. At this, he darted his gaze in the speaker's direction.

"Raul, come on, before the grownups start looking for us," said the speaker, a female Spix macaw. At this, Raul glanced back at the three green-winged macaws, blue-and-gold macaw and two scarlet macaws.

"Sorry, I gotta go," he said and with that, he took off.

"But Raul," began Ganymede angrily and with that, he and the other five rushed after the blue macaw.

"I gotta go," repeated Raul and soon, he was out of earshot and had flown away with a group of Spix macaws. Alexandre squinted at the group in front of Raul.

"That looks like Aguamarina and her group alright," he hissed disgustedly, "They're a disgrace."

"Aguamarina's mother and the parents of those other chicks are a disgrace as well," said Ganymede fiercely, "Letting their chicks upset other chicks."

"I remember Mom (Chiquitita) telling us that the red macaw tribe, our tribe," said Phobos, "also had a group of boastful 'cool kid' macaws when she, Uncle Felipe, Aunt Pearl and Aunt Ruby were our age. Those macaws had left the tribe years ago now but…"

The others nodded in agreement. Just then, the sounds of flapping wings reached the ears of the six non-Spix birds. At this, Phobos, Deimos, Ganymede, Callisto, Mimas and Alexandre turned and saw a patrol group of four adult Spix macaws approach them and then stop into a hover. One of the macaws was Roxie, the Pit of Doom scoremarker for the Spix macaws' team.

"Excuse me, you six," she asked, "Have you seen Aguamarina and her group and where they went?"

Ganymede, at this, pointed a talon in the direction of where the said group was last seen.

"Raul is with them as well," said Alexandre, "He's just left after that group."

Roxie and her three companions then took off in the direction indicated by Ganymede.

"Alright, thanks, Alexandre," said Roxie as she and the other three left. Then another pair of Spix macaws left the ravine. The six macaws flitted to the ravine entrance clifftop to make way for them.

"I can't believe that our son would do such a thing to one of Blu and Jewel's chicks," muttered one of them, a female.

"I know, but when we find him, he's gonna get a good hiding, I can tell you," said the other, a male and with that, the pair took off into the trees.

"They must be Raul's parents," said Mimas, "It's no surprise they look shocked and upset."

Just then, the six birds heard their names get called.

"Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Ganymede, Callisto, Mimas!" at this, the six turned and, to their surprise, saw six blue-and-gold macaws, two scarlet macaws and a scarlet/green-winged hybrid macaw fly in.

"Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus, Io and Europa and Sheldon?" said Ganymede in surprise. The nine newcomers landed before the six.

"We heard a lot of wailing and crying across the Spix/red border while we were playing tag in the Brazil nut grove on the red tribe's side," said Io, the one who had shouted the names of the first six.

"Has something happened?" asked Europa. Mimas then stepped forward.

"Bia's been betrayed by Raul," she said. When the nine gave her a confused look, Callisto began to explain. Another group of adult Spix macaws left the ravine and entered the outer territory.

"We weren't there when it happened but based on what she told us," Callisto said, "Raul had given up Bia to join a certain group of 'cool kids', which turned out to be Aguamarina and her group who often look down on chicks with oddities such as Bia's intelligence…"

"Aguamarina actually told Raul that of he wanted to join her group, he would have to give up Bia in other words," said Phobos. This was met by a shocked reaction from the nine newcomers.

"No way," gasped Enceladus.

"B-b-but Raul is a nice guy," said Tethys.

"How could he do such a thing?" asked Dione.

"I-I-I thought he liked Bia and found her intelligence fascinating, like how we do," said Rhea. Then Titan's face twisted into a scowl.

"That Aguamarina, honestly," he growled, "She's one word: bratty."

"Not to mention spoilt and snobbish," said Iapetus, "since she's the alleged leader of her clique."

"I certainly wouldn't hang out with a group of kids like that," put in Sheldon.

"Me neither," said Europa in agreement. Then Io asked, "Have the grownups been alerted to this incident?"

That question was answered when a passing Spix macaw said, "I hope we find Aguamarina and her group as well as Raul and bring them in for some serious discipline."

At this, Io, Europa, Sheldon and the six siblings of Mimas all turned and saw a patrol group of three Spix macaws, one of them being Nuvem who had spoken the sentence, exit the ravine and into the outer territory.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," said Io. Then Titan shot a worried look into the ravine.

"Do you think we should visit Carla, Bia and Tiago and try to console Bia?" he asked.

"Um, but it's approaching lunchtime, Titan," said Ganymede, wary of the time, "Our parents are expecting us to return to our respective tribes' home patches but we'll check on them to make sure."

"It's a deal then but we won't be in there too long," said Alexandre and with that, the group of fifteen birds opened their wings and descended into the ravine. In Blu and Jewel's hollow, Bia was up in her room, tears still falling from her eyes. She refused to talk to anyone, not even her parents, brother or sister. Not too far away from Blu and his family's hollow, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Felix, Lavender and Tyler and Ricardo looked on worriedly. With them were Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo. Charlotte and the latter three had heard Bia's wailing and sobbing as she was brought in by Carla and Tiago and had flown in to see, to their horror, a seriously upset Bia. Bia had gone into her room and had refused to come out, while Carla and Tiago had explained everything to Charlotte, Músculo, Garrett and Turquesa about what Raul had done, leading to Bia's break down. now the four, alongside the others apart from Carla and Tiago were stood a few metres from Blu and his family's hollow, looking on as Blu and Roberto tried to coax Bia into coming out. Jojo looked on as Zephyr and Venus, who wore horrified expressions on their faces, talk with some of the other adults. Jewel had gone out with a patrol group to hunt for Aguamarina and her group, and Raul. She had left with a look of thunder on her face and she was determined to give Aguamarina a right yelling when she finds her, and Raul's parents also had the same thing in mind with their son.

"I can't believe what has happened," Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil heard their father say, "How could Raul just hurt Bia's feelings like that?"

"Is Bia gonna be alright?" asked Charlotte worriedly.

"She's refusing to come out," said Justin, "She's too upset."

"How could Raul do such a thing?" growled Músculo, kicking away a stone in anger. "Bia's a sensitive macaw."

Felix then breathed a sigh. "I had a feeling that Raul's desire to get in with a popular group might flare up."

"Well, it's left Bia in bits, that's for sure," said Lavender angrily, her ponytail feathers spiking out somewhat, "He must think that popularity and winning the favour of the 'cool kids' is more important than the feelings of his closest friend."

"It's disgraceful," growled Jojo, his head feathers spiked out similar to how his father Roberto's did whenever he got angry or scared.

"And to add," said Tyler, "Aguamarina is very snooty towards Bia and often sees her as a freak," he stole a glance at the ravine entrance, "I reckon she'll be smugly laughing her head off now that she has got between Raul and Bia."

"Well, that smug smile is bound to be stripped from her face when Aunt Jewel finds her," growled Virgil stormily, his electric blue feathers puffed out. He seemed to have inherited Venus's occasional short temper.

"Well, let's hope that Aguamarina and her gang will be found," said Matilda, her eyes on another group of Spix macaws as they left the ravine to search for Aguamarina and her clique and Raul.

"And as for her mother," said Turquesa, "She's gonna be in serious trouble, anyway."

"Mr Eduardo is sending out macaws to look for her as well," said Garrett. Just then the sounds of wing flaps reached their ears. At this, the Spix macaws turned and saw a group of scarlet, green-winged and blue-and-gold macaws touch down before them.

"Hi, you lot," said the one at the front, Io.

"Io, Europa?" asked Justin in surprise, "Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus?"

"What are you lot doing here?" asked Turquesa.

"We heard from Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Mimas, Ganymede and Callisto what happened," said Europa, Ganymede, Mimas and Callisto flanking her.

"Is Bia alright?" asked Titan worriedly.

"We decided to come and check on her," said Enceladus.

"But we have to make it quick as it is approaching lunch time," said Tethys. The Spix macaws exchanged glances until finally, Matilda stepped forward.

"Bia's too upset to come out at the moment," she said, "But thanks for showing your concern."

"Mr Eduardo is sending patrol groups out to search for Aguamarina, Raul and the former's gang," said Turquesa.

"I know, we just saw a few groups of grownup Spix macaws pass just as we arrived at the ravine entrance," said Io.

"I'd hate to think what will happen if those brats are ever found," said Europa. "I know I sometimes got up to mischief myself but I never got involved with the wrong crowd, be it 'cool kids', troublemakers like Uncle Rafael and Aunt Eva's offspring and their kids, or anything of the sort."

Just then, Jojo called the others. "Bia's coming out of her family's hollow, folks," he said. At this, the colourful crowd of Spix, scarlet, green-winged and blue-and-gold macaws gathered around the Roberto lookalike chick and followed his gaze. When Virgil saw Bia enter a group hug with Blu, Carla and Tiago and began to sob, he felt a wave of sympathy come over him. Tethys, Dione and Rhea, shocked at how upset Bia was, attempted to fly towards her but Garrett, Músculo, Felix, Lavender and Turquesa blocked their way. The five chicks shook their heads.

"It might not be appropriate to see Bia at the moment," said Garrett.

"She's too upset for company," said Felix.

"Wait until she calms down a bit first," said Turquesa. The near identical triplet-like sisters, at this, gazed at the five Spix macaws when Mimas put her wings on Dione and Rhea's shoulders.

"I agree with them, you three," she said gently, "It's best if Bia is left alone with her family and friends to receive comfort for the time being."

Tethys, Dione and Rhea, at this, went along with their older but smaller sister's advice and abandoned the idea of going over to Bia. Then Io said, "Well, it's time we were off back to the red and blue-and-gold tribes' territories, anyway. It's approaching lunch time and my tummy's beginning to rumble."

She placed a wing on her growling stomach.

"I agree," said Titan, "Our parents will be wondering where we are."

"Okay, we'll see you guys at the group meeting this evening," said Matilda as the group of green-winged, scarlet and blue-and-gold macaws opened their wings and took off.

"We'll meet you at the meeting tree," said Phobos and Deimos together as they left. As soon as Io, Mimas, Phobos and all their respective siblings were out of the ravine entrance, Turquesa looked on and smiled.

"I do appreciate Tethys, Dione and Rhea's concern for Bia though," she said. She then gazed at Bia as she continued sobbing into Blu's chest feathers, a pang of pity pricking at her. "But I hope Bia recovers from this ordeal," Turquesa's voice tone then became harder, "And that those brats and Raul in particular get found and sought to."

"I agree," growled Virgil, "No-one betrays our friend like that."

Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Tyler, Ricardo and Músculo and Garrett all nodded in agreement. Then Garrett turned to Justin and said, "We three would like to come to your meeting this evening as well."

"You're allowed any time," said Justin with a smile. Then Músculo sighed.

"It will do us good to get away from the ravine for a bit," he said, "And also to share the burden of the disappointment of the news about the certain demise of our homes' status as a protected reserve."

The others nodded in agreement. Aside from the incident between Bia and Raul, the crisis regarding the Sanctuary de Amazon and the threat of the debt aiming for its protected reserve status hung over the chicks, and everyone else as well, like a giant black cloud.

 **Evening meeting time**

Evening at last came. The tree where Carla and company met almost each week was in use once again. Carla and Tiago, together with Bia who had managed to let loose the majority of emotional pressure from her heart but was still upset over the betrayal of Raul to Aguamarina and her clique, were present. As usual, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, their cousins and second cousins Jojo, Felix and Lavender, Ricardo and Tyler, and friends Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett were present. Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and some of their friends Byron (a male scarlet macaw), Estelle (a female green-winged macaw) and Sheldon (the scarlet/green-winged hybrid) from the red tribe, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus and their friends Brooke and Bastian from the blue-and-gold tribe, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon from the green tribe, Triton and Indigo and their friend Victor from the Navyfeather hyacinth Clan, Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor and their friends Neytiri and Juan from the glaucous macaw tribe, Aurelio, Wilbur and Azul from the blue-throated macaw clan, Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette from the Lear's macaw tribe and their two non-tribe and clan friends Alessandro the chestnut-fronted macaw and Mariposa the blue-headed macaw were also present.

The meeting group was slightly larger tonight due to some of the main group's other friends attending. The others who had not been there when the incident between Raul and Bia had happened, such as the Lear's macaw sisters, had all been shocked and horrified to hear about it. However, this was not the main reason why the group had gathered tonight, but Bia had decided to come to escape the ravine and seek consolation form her friends for a bit. Like usual, the tree was lit by firefly lanterns. As soon as all the birds gathered were ready, Carla opened up the meeting.

"Saludos, everyone," she said, "I'd like to thank you all for coming tonight."

She then sat down and sighed. "I suppose you all have been troubled by the debt crisis threatening our home, aren't you?"

"We are, yes," said Phoebe who sat next to Jasmine and Annette, "In fact our tribe had been seriously worried and upset over the news."

"Especially Mr Valentino and Mrs Rosalind," said Jasmine.

"The thought of their precious ravine and surrounding trees being open to logging again is seriously preying on their minds," said Annette. Miranda then stood up.

"The same is true for our tribe," she said.

"Mr Alonso and Mrs Verde are seriously troubled by the news as well," said Ariel, "As are the rest of the green macaws."

"But I think the macaws who are most troubled will be the glaucous macaw tribe," said Umbriel, nodding to Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor, Neytiri and Juan. The six young glaucous macaws all nodded in agreement.

"I actually heard Mr Rudi say that we're gonna go back to the old times when our tribe used to live like refugees without a true home," murmured Neytiri. She shuddered at the memories of that time, being born into an improper home and having to share the nest with Juan and her older sister and brother. Most of the glaucous macaw tribe had lived in mere makeshift nests built on branches and only a few actually living in proper hollows.

"There must be some way we could do to help those humans pay off those debts," said Charon mournfully. This was met by the shakes of the heads of most of the other macaws. All but two, in fact.

"I'm afraid there isn't, Charon," said Carla sadly.

"Based on what we've heard," said Titan, "The debt mountain is very high and with only a month to pay it off, it is likely that Tulio and his team will not make it."

"You guys should have seen the state of the poor guy, honestly," said Enceladus, "He was practically wracked with stress and worry for the entire sanctuary, especially for the Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws."

"I'm not surprised," said Alessandro, "knowing those three species of macaw to be so rare."

"He must have worked ever so hard to set up this whole area as a protected reserve," said Mariposa, "It would be a shame to see it go to waste."

"I couldn't agree more," said Ganymede. Io, Europa and Callisto all nodded in agreement. Then Estelle, one of the friends of Ganymede and his three sisters and Phobos and his two brothers, sighed.

"It seems that we are stuck in limbo as well," she murmured, "We can't evacuate to the safety of the smaller sanctuary next to Rio, we can't simply leave our homes in search of new ones deeper in the Amazon rainforest, and if we stay here, we're still gonna be prone to decimation by loggers."

"Yeah, once our home's status as a protected reserve is lifted," said Phobos, "Loggers and poachers will be over the moon and we'll be facing the threat, particularly from loggers, all over again."

All the others breathed disappointed and despairing sighs. It was at that moment that Triton, Victor and Indigo smiled.

"Hey, you lot," said Triton, "We have an idea. Wouldn't this help to save the sanctuary from losing its protected reserve status?"

"What do you mean, Triton?" asked Carla. All eyes were turned to the three hyacinth macaw chicks, some with very bemused and unimpressed glares.

"You're not gonna give us false hope are you?" asked Tiago with a frown. Bia just looked on and said nothing.

"Well, um," said Victor, the fruit shell hat-wearing hyacinth chick, "It's an old story known by our clan, the Navyfeathers. We believe it might be the solution to help the debt crisis."

This was met with scepticism from the other chicks and some folded their wings. Some hyacinth macaw clans were known for believing in stories called myths and the Navyfeather Clan was one of them, and some of the stories were particularly old. Then Indigo said, "It might take us a while to explain the story as there are two versions to it, but if you're willing to listen, we'll tell you."

"I know your clan believes in a variety of myths," said Turquesa who was sat next to Carla, Bia and Tiago and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, "But some of them are a bit farfetched, according to Daddy's opinion, anyway."

"So what is this story then?" asked Tiago with a frown. The others all cocked their ears (though macaws do not have ear lobes like mammals) to listen. Triton then took in a deep breath.

"The story is known as the Legend of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure," he said, "It is called that because it features a type of bird that is very unusual and not like the birds we are familiar with, and also it features a natural deposit of treasure."

"Yeah, just explain it," said Jojo impatiently. Felix and Lavender also gave the same impatient look.

"Okay," said Triton and then he launched into an explanation.

"In the first version, millennia and millennia ago, giant lizards roamed the earth and bat-birds flew in the skies. Those lizards were not like the lizards we are familiar with today, and the bat-birds resembled birds but did not have feathers and had membranous wings like a bat. Alongside those giant lizards and bat-birds lived many species of smaller creatures, among them feathered creatures that were totally unlike any of the birds we know of today. They had feathers but their features were radically different from a typical bird. One day, a comet crashed into the earth and wiped out the majority of the species of giant lizards, bat-birds and other life that lived alongside them. However, some of the bizarre birds, smaller species of weird lizards and bat-birds managed to escape the catastrophe and continued to live on. Millennia and millennia later, those bizarre birds, lizards and bat-birds and some other creatures continued to live and when humans appeared, they retreated to remote areas such as isolated rainforests and islands. One such group is believed to live in a secluded patch of rainforest in Guyana. That habitat is said to be inaccessible to humans due to high cliffs enclosing it and any humans who do infiltrate it from the air are said to never come across the bizarre animals…"

The other macaws listened intently, some changing their expressions from reluctance to intrigue.

"The second version has the same ending as the first," continued Triton, "But the storyline is different. In it, the giant lizards, bat-birds and strange birds lived alongside humans and the other animals. However, the face of the earth changed after a catastrophic global flood which killed all of life that breathed air except those that had boarded a giant boat with some humans…"

"That sounds like the story of Noah's Ark in Genesis," whispered Mimas with intrigue.

"…among those animals taken aboard that boat," said Triton, "Each type of giant and bizarre lizard, bat-bird and strange feathered creature, or rather younger versions of them were present. Then after the flood had finished and the animals and those humans came off the boat to repopulate the earth, over the centuries, humans started hunting animals for food and their hide, pelt or other things. Many of the animals were hunted to extinction, including the majority of the giant lizards, small weird lizards, bat-birds and bizarre birds, but some managed to escape to hidden places away from humans where they thrived. From the humans' perspective their species are extinct. One of the remote places is believed to be the patch of jungle hidden in a large ravine in the rainforests of Guyana."

"And there," added Triton, "It is believed that an enormous natural deposit of treasure, namely gold and precious crystals not unlike those used by humans in making jewellery, exists somewhere in that spot."

It took a while for the listeners to absorb all this information and a cloud of silence hovered above the group. Finally, Neytiri broke it.

"It sounds plausible," she said in fascination, "It doesn't sound entirely farfetched."

"I agree," said Charon, "If we could find that isolated patch of rainforest and its deposit of treasure, maybe we could bring some of it back to give to Tulio and his team to sell, make enough money and pay of the debt before the deadline?"

Blueberry, Quincy, Flor, Juan and some of the others, including Phoebe, Tyler and Ricardo, all nodded in agreement. The rest, however, looked sceptical about the possible existence of the mythical place.

"Well, it sounds more like something straight out of a fantasy story," said Carla with a frown, "A habitat inhabited by a bunch of birds not like us, featherless birds with wings of skin and other strange animals, with a natural deposit of treasure somewhere? Sounds like Jurassic Park crossed with Treasure Planet."

"I agree," said Ganymede, "Based on the description of 'giant lizards' and 'bat-birds', it sounds like the story is describing dinosaurs and pterosaurs, extinct groups of reptiles only known from the fossil record."

"I've never heard of animals like those," said Alessandro, "Birds without feathers that fly on wings of skin? I always thought that bats are the only creatures that fly on skinned wings."

"The idea of featherless birds with bat-like wings sounds just as farfetched as the whole story," said Mariposa. Garrett, Músculo, Turquesa, Estelle, Sheldon, Byron, Brooke, Bastian, Neytiri and Juan all nodded in agreement.

"No, such animals did exist millions of years ago," said Bia, the pain from the incident with Raul briefly forgotten

"Or a few thousand years ago, depending on one's perspective," said Ganymede.

"They're called pterosaurs," said Justin.

"Ptero- something?" repeated Alessandro confused. Then Jojo spoke.

"Well, if that is true, then they must have been terrifying," he said, "I wouldn't like to meet one of those featherless bird beasts. They'd remind me of those flying foxes."

"Bats do not have beaks," said Indigo, "But these bat-birds were believed to have had beaks. They're called bat-birds because they were believed to have wings and beaks like a bird but featherless bodies with wings of skin like a bat."

"Well, I think that's enough talk about bat-birds," said Carla, her eyes on the setting sun, "It is getting quite late. Any last ideas to discuss?"

At first there was silence until Neytiri finally broke it.

"Why don't we give it a try and find this place in Guyana?" she asked excitedly. This was met with shocked gazes from the others.

"What? You mean venturing out to Guyana to find some place that might not exist?" muttered Titan with a frown, "I don't think so."

"And besides that, Guyana is far away," put in Enceladus. Justin, however, began to agree with Neytiri.

"I think that might be a good idea, actually," he said, "Considering the fact that our human friends might not pay off the debts by the deadline."

"I'm willing to go as well," said Charlotte.

"Me too," said Matilda. Virgil, Jojo, Felix and Lavender nodded in agreement, as did many of the others despite their scepticism.

"But first," said Io, "How are we gonna get there, and what will we need to carry the treasure back with us if we do find it?"

This was met by a perplexed silence.

"Well, it would take us ages and ages to get to Guyana if we were to fly there," said Ganymede, "That's for sure."

"And furthermore," said Miranda, "We would need to carry the treasure back with us and that might be a problem for the return journey since the treasure's going to cause weight problems."

"Yeah," said Azul, "Hauling back a tonne of heavy material is seriously an impractical task."

As he said this, Titan began to think. After thinking, he said, "That's it."

All eyes turned to him.

"What is it, Titan?" asked Carla.

"Just as I, Enceladus, Iapetus and Dad were leaving to return to the patrol group the other day," said Titan, "I overheard Tulio mention about going to Guyana to pick up some Lear's macaw there. Maybe we could hitch a ride with him when he catches a plane to the country?"

"That sounds like a good idea," said Enceladus, "But where will he fly from, and when will he take off?"

"I think it's best if we save this planning until tomorrow evening, folks," said Carla, her eyes on the sun which was by now half-way in its sinking into the horizon. "We need to head back to our respective tribes, clans and groups."

"So, we're gonna meet and discuss this tomorrow evening?" asked Alessandro as he and Mariposa prepared to return to their respective small groups of chestnut-fronted macaws and blue-headed macaws.

"Yes," said Carla, "We'll meet again at that time. Let's go before our parents wonder where we've gone."

The group was about to take off when they heard a scornful female and bratty voice, much to the disgust of the group and Bia's fright.

"Well, well, if it ain't Carla the Fatty and her clique," it said, "Hanging around in their usual spot like usual."

At this, Carla and Tiago glared at the speaker, their feathers bristled while Bia hid behind Virgil and Charlotte, not wanting the speaker to see her. The others also looked on bemusedly as a familiar group of a few macaws, led by the familiar queen bee, melted out of the darkening jungle. When Jojo recognised the macaw at the front, his head feathers spiked out as he became angry.

"Aguamarina!" he growled, "What are you doing out here with some of your friends!?"

"Shouldn't you be back at the ravine facing discipline after the trouble you've caused Bia!?" put in Io fiercely, "Mr Eduardo's patrols are out looking everywhere for you."

"Mom and her friends had decided that she had had enough of the barrage of accusations hurled at them, especially from Carla the Fatty's Mom and Dad," said one of the macaws behind Aguamarina named Claudia, "So we're moving to a quieter spot where no-one will bother us."

This sent disgusted shock and disbelief exploding like a shockwave through the group.

"Did I just hear that right?" asked Mimas incredulously.

"Are you meaning to say that your parents are taking you out of the ravine to avoid discipline!?" shouted Justin angrily, "What cowardice!"

"We're not cowards," snapped Benita, another of Aguamarina's friends, "We're just trying to get away from the other Spix macaws' accusations as it is driving us around the bend."

The other two behind the three girls nodded in agreement. Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett exchanged glances with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Tyler, Ricardo and Tiago, disgusted looks on their faces. Then Io said to Carla, "I don't believe this. First one of this girl's friends treats me roughly, then her friend causes Bia heartbreak by turning Raul against her and now she and her group are escaping punishment? What's wrong with those birds?"

Carla just angrily shrugged when Aguamarina rhetorically said, "What's wrong with us, red feathers? I think you ought to ask yourselves that question."

At this, Io and Carla slowly turned and glared at Aguamarina who said, "I think you lot have something wrong, not us."

"Yeah, you're nothing but trouble," said Claudia spitefully. This sent hot rage burning through the group.

"'Nothing but trouble'!?" retorted Felix, his three-layered crest feathers spiking out all over the place. Aguamarina, at this, backed away as the teal-tinted turquoise middle chick of Roberto and Brisa, his ocean blue eyes ablaze with fire darted towards her and began to lambaste her with words flowing as fast as a rapid in the Amazon River.

"If there is any group of macaw chicks that are nothing but trouble, you brat, it is YOU and your CLIQUE!" Felix bellowed, "You've been mocking us, especially Bia, Carla and Tiago, over the past few years and you've caused Bia a serious heartbreak by getting Raul to turn against her…"

Aguamarina's face remained in its nasty stare as Felix continued, "And you're say we're trouble? What cheek!"

"You're nothing but a bunch of _bullies_!" yelled Azul at the top of his voice.

"Just wait till Aunt Jewel finds you," put in Charlotte, "And boy is she gonna give you a yelling at."

Virgil then looked around for any sign of Raul. When he saw that Raul wasn't with the group, he said, "Well it seems that Raul and some of your other friends had been found and are currently being dealt with," he said, "But I hope you get dealt with too…"

Aguamarina was about to retort when suddenly, she heard her mother, Mertle, call her.

"Aguamarina, come on," shout Mertle, "It's getting late."

Aguamarina flashed a glance at her mother and then glared back at Carla and company, their eyes blaze with anger.

"We gotta go," she said, "It's pointless arguing with you lot."

"Yeee-aaaaah," said Claudia and Benita in agreement and with that, the three girls, together with the other two accompanying them, left the dumbfounded group and followed Mertle. Io stepped in.

"That went well," she said flatly.

"I think you should tell your grandpa about where they are heading," said Europa to Carla and Tiago as Bia emerged timidly from behind Charlotte and Virgil.

"Yes, thanks, Europa," said Carla. Seeing now that the sun had almost completely set, Carla knew that the group must be back with their respective tribes, clans and groups before darkness fully enveloped the jungle.

"Alright, I'll see you all tomorrow evening," she said to the non-Spix macaws, "You'd better head back now before it gets too dark, but between now and tomorrow evening, I'd like you all to brainstorm some ideas about our plan to go to Guyana."

"Okay, we'll see you then," said Io as she, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre left for the red tribe's territory with Estelle, Byron and Sheldon in tow.

"We'll see you tomorrow," said Miranda as she, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon left for the green tribe's home. Titan, together with Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Brooke and Bastian also left for the blue-and-gold macaws' territory while Phoebe Jasmine and Annette left for the Lear's tribe's home.

"I hope Aguamarina gets found," said Triton as he followed Victor and Indigo back to the Navyfeathers and the glaucous tribe's home with Charon, Blueberry, Quincy, Flor, Neytiri and Juan. Wilbur, Azul and Aurelio then left for the blue-throated macaw clan and their Bluewing neighbours' home while Alessandro and Mariposa left for their small groups as well. As soon as all the non-Spix macaws were out of sight, Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, and Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Tyler and Ricardo, Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett began to make their way back to the Spix macaw tribe's ravine.

"I wonder what we'll need for this trip to this… mythical place," said Tyler as the group flew along.

"We'll have to discuss that tomorrow," said Ricardo. He then let loose a yawn for he was getting tired. Jojo then gave a doubtful frown.

"I'm not sure how our parents are gonna react to the story, Carla," he said, "It sounds cleverly fabricated."

"I don't know," said Carla, "But let's get back to the ravine. Darkness is quickly coming over the jungle and the last thing we want is us getting into trouble as well for staying out late."

The other Spix macaws nodded in agreement and soon, the group vanished into the darkening rainforest.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- negative parental reactions to the myth, early departure**

 **Later**

The sun had completely set by the time Carla and the others had arrived back at their tribe's ravine. However, as the group of fifteen Spix macaw chicks entered through the entrance, they heard the sounds of loud shouting. At this, Jojo and Felix followed the source and saw two macaws yell at a familiar male macaw chick. The male macaw, which was clearly Raul, was wincing and flinching at every loud word exploding from his parents' beaks, and his face was twisted into one of utter guilt. Somewhere else, some of the other macaw chicks were also having a good telling off. Virgil gave a smug smile.

"At least Raul has been found," he told the others.

"And some of Aguamarina's friends," said Justin, his eyes raking the other chicks also being told off by their parents.

"It's about time they received punishment for upsetting Bia, especially Raul, anyway," said Charlotte in agreement.

"Yeah, Raul ought to be outright ashamed of himself," put in Ricardo, his disgusted eyes on Raul.

"And so should you lot as well," said a voice. At this, the fifteen chicks' eyes turned and landed on a group of adult macaws consisting of Blu, Jewel, Venus, Zephyr, Roberto Brisa, Nuvem, Cassia, Maximillian (Turquesa's father), and Garrett and Músculo's parents, as well as Eduardo and Mimi, Gael and Viento. The macaws were all very cross and they had their wings on their hips or folded. As Carla's group landed before them, Zephyr stepped forward.

"Where have you lot been!?" he shouted, "Do you know what time it is?"

He gestured to the sky as he said this.

"Yes, it's night time," said Justin.

"Well, get yourselves to our hollow NOW, you four," said Venus angrily to him, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, "You should have returned while the sun was setting and it's well past your bedtime."

"The same applies to you three as well," said Roberto to Jojo, Felix and Lavender, "Back to our hollow as well."

Brisa did not say anything and pointed in the direction of Roberto's family hollow as Jojo, Felix and Lavender, ashamed looks on their faces, left while Justin, Charlotte and Matilda followed Zephyr and Venus. Nuvem and Cassia also led Ricardo and Tyler back to their hollow while Maximillian and Músculo and Garrett's parents took their respective chicks away as well, with Gael and Viento, who also remained silent, following. When Carla, Bia and Tiago remained, Blu and Jewel stepped forward to confront their near-adolescent chicks.

"Don't you three realise what danger you could have got yourselves into?" asked Blu angrily. The two sisters and brother said nothing.

"Honestly, you could have been hurt or killed," said Jewel, "The dark jungle is extremely dangerous to young macaws like you and the last thing we want is any of you getting hurt or killed."

"Yeah, absolutely!" put in Eduardo angrily.

"And I sure hope the other chicks not of our tribe will have made it back home as well," put in Mimi, "Especially the three daughters of Mercury and Sapphire and the five chicks of Uranus and Esmeralda for they have a long flight to their territories. Not to mention Saturn and Orquidea's seven chicks and Cobalto and Ceres's three sons, considering how far away the territories of the blue-and-gold, green, Lear's tribes and the Bluewing and blue-throated macaw clans' territories are."

"And with Triton and Indigo still being very young despite being the same age as you three as well," said Blu.

"Sorry, Mom, Dad, Aunt Mimi and Pop-Pop," said Carla, "There's been a bit of a delay. You see, Triton and Indigo had thought up of a possible solution to the debt problem…"

"Solution to the debt problem?" asked Blu annoyed, "What solution?"

Then Carla, Bia and Tiago launched into an explanation to the four adults about the story of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure. However inside, they weren't sure how they were going to react. By the time the three young macaws had finished the story and how it might be the solution to the debt problem threatening the Sanctuary de Amazon, the looks on Blu, Jewel, Eduardo and Mimi's faces were plastered with surprise first, but then they morphed into looks of utter anger.

"What a load of _tripe_ ," snapped Blu angrily, "It's nothing more than a fairy tale fabricated solely for chicks."

"But Dad," said Bia but Blu swept on.

"There's no such thing as a group of weird birds living in a secluded habitat untouched by humans with a natural deposit of treasure somewhere in it," he growled, "I think whatever idea those two hyacinth macaw chicks have had when they told you this trash must have been utterly silly."

"Yeah, absolutely," said Jewel, "Now come on, back to our hollow. It's WAY past your bedtime."

Carla, Bia and Tiago, at this, murmured, "Yes, Mom," and left for their family's hollow. As Jewel left with the three chicks, Blu gazed at Eduardo and Mimi, a disgusted look on his face.

"I think it's time we went over to the Navyfeather Clan's home patch to complain about this, you two," he said, "We're not gonna have these silly hyacinth macaw clan stories influencing the minds of our kids, certainly not kids outside their clan…"

As he said this, Tiago overheard this. At this, he gasped before following his two sisters and mother to the hollow.

"I couldn't agree more, Blu," said Eduardo angrily, "We'll see about that tomorrow morning."

"Until then, Blu," said Mimi, "You go and put your kids to bed, check your two second-brood eggs and go to sleep."

"Yes," said Blu, "And I'll see you two in the morning."

And with that, he opened his wings to take off.

"Oh, and Blu," said Eduardo firmly. Blu stopped and looked at him. "No sleeping in until late in the morning, okay?"

Blu nodded and flew off, leaving Eduardo and Mimi to return to their hollows.

At Zephyr and his family's hollow, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil had also told their parents about the Bizarre Birds and Treasure myth, but like Blu and Jewel, Zephyr and Venus's reaction was also negative, no different from Blu and Jewel's reaction.

"What do you mean it might be the possible solution to the debt problem you four!?" snapped Zephyr angrily. His gaze then changed to one of suspicion. "What have those two hyacinth macaw chicks of Neptune and Ultramarine been filling your heads!?"

Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil all flinched at the tone of their father's voice and said nothing.

"Don't you realise that stories like those are nothing but fabricated tales?" put in Venus, "It's honestly no different from believing that the fictional world of Narnia is real or that there are horse-like unicorns dwelling in the Amazon."

"But Mom, Dad…" began Justin but Zephyr cut him off.

"No more of this mythical stuff," he snapped, "Off to bed, all four of you!"

And with that, the hollow air was filled with four pairs of flapping wings as Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, and Virgil took off and entered their rooms, leaving Venus and Zephyr to discuss alone. However, before she entered her room, Charlotte stopped at the entrance to her room to listen to them talk.

"This is just silly, Zephyr," muttered Venus, "I can't believe that Neptune and Ultramarine's two chicks would mention something as ridiculous as this myth as being something real…"

"I know, Venus," muttered Zephyr, "We'll see about that tomorrow. Anyway, let's hit the nest. I'm very tired."

And with that, Charlotte watched her parents retreat to the nest, before entering her own room. However, a look of concern creased her face. At Roberto and Brisa's hollow, Roberto and Brisa also had the same negative reaction when Jojo, Felix and Lavender explained to them the myth and dismissed it as mere nonsense, as had Nuvem and Cassia when Tyler and Ricardo told them about it, and Maximillian after Turquesa explained the myth to him and also Músculo and Garrett's parents _ **.**_ All the chicks were harshly ordered to bed and the parents all reached the same agreement to go over to the Navyfeather Clan's territory tomorrow morning to complain to Flavio about his clan's chicks influencing their offspring with non-existent stories.

In the red tribe's territory, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre, together with Sheldon, Estelle and Byron, had arrived back at the trees of the red tribe to be greeted by a group of adult scarlet and green-winged macaws with unimpressed looks on their faces. Among the group were Jupiter and Ruby, Mars, and the parents of Byron, Estelle and Sheldon, the latter who were a male scarlet and a female green-winged. When the ten red macaw chicks saw their parents and some of the other adults waiting for them, they stopped into a hover, speechless. Then Mars came forward to reason with the chicks. Chiquitita was back at the hollow, looking after Gabrielle.

"Where have you been, you ten?" he demanded. At this, Io and the other nine perched onto a branch and gazed back at him with ashamed faces.

"Don't you realise how late it is?" asked Sheldon's scarlet father, gesturing to the night sky.

"Yes, Dad," squeaked Sheldon.

"It's also past you lot's bedtime," put in Sheldon's green-winged macaw mother, "You should have come back here a while ago."

"Yes, at least before sundown," said Jupiter. The ten chicks all gazed down at their feet ashamed. Then Io began to explain the reason behind their lateness.

"We're sorry we're late," she said, "You see, we were hearing a story…"

"Story?" snapped Ruby, "What story?"

"It's a story about…" said Europa, "Some mysterious birds who lived alongside giant lizards and strange bat-birds and how those birds managed to survive going extinct, either through a comet hitting earth and/or from hunting by humans, depending on the version."

"And over time, those birds managed to find remote places untouched by humans, such as an isolated habitat in the Guyanese rainforest," continued Ganymede, "Where they lived and in that spot, there is believed to be a large natural deposit of treasure…"

At this, Sheldon's scarlet and green-winged parents reacted in surprise.

"Deposit in treasure in Guyana?" repeated Sheldon's dad, "I've heard of that story before."

"It's one of the Navyfeather Clan's stories, isn't it?" said Estelle's mother, "The story of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure."

"Story of the-?" repeated Mars in confusion.

"The Navyfeather hyacinth macaws are known for telling stories," said Byron's father. "Some of them are highly exaggerated and ridiculous, I believe."

"I agree," said Byron's mother, "Especially the story about some half-jaguar, half-eagle creature being slain by a group of heroic macaws of various species, among them Spix and scarlet."

"Well, Triton, Indigo and Victor explained the story of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure to us and they believed that it could be a potential solution to the debt problem," said Phobos. However, Ruby interrupted.

"Look, we have no time for these silly stories," she growled, "It's WAY past your bedtime and you should be asleep by now. Let's return to our hollows!"

"But Mom," began Callisto.

"No buts, daughter," snapped Jupiter, "Now do as your mother says."

Callisto sighed and followed Io, Europa and Ganymede as they flew after Ruby. Mars also took Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre back to his family's hollow while Byron, Estelle and Sheldon were also lead away. Then after saying goodnight to some of the other adults that had gathered awaiting the return of the ten chicks, Jupiter followed Ruby. As the six scarlet macaws arrived at the entrance of the hollow and Ganymede and his three sisters entered the hollow, Ruby and Jupiter began to talk.

"I hope Triton, Indigo and Victor haven't influenced our kids into thinking that this Bizarre Birds/Treasure myth is real, Ruby," murmured Jupiter worriedly, "Because if that is true, Neptune and Ultramarine are gonna be in serious trouble."

At this, Ganymede and Callisto paused to listen.

"Look, Jupiter, let's go to bed," said Ruby, "We'll see to this tomorrow. The parents of the other chicks part of Carla, Bia and Tiago's circle of friends will have likely been influenced as well."

"Well, I hope not," murmured Jupiter and with that, he followed Ruby into the hollow and the two snuggled into their nest. At this, Ganymede and Callisto looked at each other.

"We may want to return to our meeting tree early in the morning, bro," said Callisto in a low voice, "If Mom and Dad go to the Navyfeather Clan and tell Uncle Neptune and Aunt Ultramarine about this, we're gonna be in a lot of trouble."

Ganymede breathed a sigh. At Mars and Chiquitita's hollow, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre were met with the same result: Mars and Chiquitita had dismissed the myth as something of a fabricated story and the boys were ordered to bed, but the brothers too planned to go to the tree early in the morning.

The result was also the same for the other chicks. Neytiri, Juan, and Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor, who had returned to the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaw tribe's home were met with angry shock and disbelief from Pluto, Lapis Lazuli and Michelle who also dismissed the myth as fiction, in the blue-and-gold tribe's home, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus, Brooke and Bastian had been fiercely ordered to bed by their parents, especially the former seven by Saturn and Orquidea; and the same for Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon by Uranus and Esmeralda in the green tribe's home, Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette by Mercury and Sapphire in the Lear's tribe's ravine, Aurelio, Azul and Wilbur by Cobalto and Ceres in the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaw clan's home, and Alessandro by his parents and Mariposa by Skyla and Jairo. All the chicks had faced the same result: a scolding from their parents and relatives, ordering to bed, dismissal of the story as being real, and also complains from their parents about Neptune and Ultramarine's chicks and Victor influencing their offspring into believing in non-existent tales, which Skyla referred to as 'Non-existent nonsense'. However, all the chicks had heard their parents plan on going to the Navyfeather Clan's home patch to complain to Flavio tomorrow morning and planned to meet at the meeting tree early in the morning while it was still dark. In the Navyfeather Clan's territory, Triton and Indigo had had a quite different reaction from Neptune and Ultramarine. Like everyone else, the two chicks had been scolded by their parents for being late as well but when Triton had explained the reason for their lateness, Neptune and Ultramarine had reacted in sheer flabbergast.

"What do you mean you've explained to the others about the myth as being the potential solution to the debt problem!?" demanded Neptune angrily, making his son and daughter flinch, "It's just a _story!_ "

"We're sorry, Dad," said Triton, "But… but…"

But then he trailed off as he reached a roadblock. Then Ultramarine stepped forward.

"Don't you realise what trouble and damage to our reputation this will lead us!?" she demanded, "We could be prohibited from ever visiting the other macaw tribes and clans… or even _exiled_ … from our clan!"

Triton and Indigo, at this, flinched harshly. Then Neptune put on his parental command authority.

"Off to bed, both of you," he scolded, his wing pointing to their rooms, "You both are grounded for a month. Don't you EVER influence the other non-hyacinth chicks again!"

At this, Triton and Indigo sighed and left for their rooms. As the two left, the chicks stopped when they heard Neptune and Ultramarine begin to speak.

"Uncle Flavio is NOT gonna be impressed when he hears about this," murmured Ultramarine, "Neither will the leaders of the other tribes and clans, and smaller groups of birds such as Skyla the blue-headed macaw's little clan. If they hear that Skyla and Jairo's daughter, Mariposa has been influenced into believing one of our myths to be real, she's gonna be in trouble."

"Not to mention Alessandro with his little group of chestnut-fronted macaws," said Neptune. "Anyway, let's get to bed. We'll see to this tomorrow."

And with that, the two large navy blue birds retreated to their nest. Triton and Indigo looked at each other and left for their rooms.

"What are we gonna do now, sis?" asked Triton sorrowfully. Indigo just replied silently. Both chicks, like everyone else, was planning to meet at the meeting tree early in the morning, before Neptune and Ultramarine meet the parents of the other macaws, such as Blu and Jewel, by sunrise.

 **Hours later**

It was the early hours of the morning, but it was still dark. The night continued to hang over the Amazon, cloaking it in darkness. The night sky was clear except for a few clouds, and the moon was full. Night time animals continued their nightly business, hunting, foraging or just creeping around. However, some normally diurnal (daytime) animals were also up during the night. In the Spix macaws' ravine, the air in the rock enclosing the Spix tribe's home was quiet except for the rushing noise of the waterfall at the far end. The majority of macaws were asleep, except for a few night patrollers who were out on their night time trips. At Blu and Jewel's hollow, the famous Spix macaw couple was sound asleep, the former with his wing slung over the latter and blowing snores. It was a wonder how Jewel was not awakened by the snoring of her mate, but she was also making a few noises as she dreamed about her family flying through the jungle in the sun, and also about her and Blu's two future children. The clutch of two eggs was nestled in a bed of moss under Jewel's cerulean feathers. As the two macaws slept, movement stirred in the space before their room's entrance. Three shapes, one large and the other two slender, touched down quietly and gently onto the floor of the hollow and then tiptoed out. As the two slender forms left the hollow entrance, the large shape, which was Carla based on her bright green eyes, gazed at the sleeping forms of Blu and Jewel with sad eyes. Uttering a silent apology to her parents, she left. As soon as the three young macaws were out of the hollow, they took off and made a beeline for the ravine entrance. The sound of the waterfall roaring in the background rippled through the air as the three then touched down on the precipice overlooking the entrance to the ravine, and the silvery moonbeams shone from the bright full moon all around, making Carla and Bia's cerulean feathers appear to glow while Tiago's blue feathers looked iridescent. As the three landed, Carla turned to the slender forms, Bia and Tiago.

"Let's wait for the others," she whispered. Bia and Tiago looked back at her with nervousness flickering in their eyes. They knew that what they were about to do was against their parents' commands. However, they knew that this was important. Then the sounds of flapping wings reached the three macaws' ears. At this, Carla looked up and saw Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, all lit by the moonlight, especially Matilda and Virgil with their electric blue feathers, fly in and touch down.

"Ah, you three," said Justin, "You've managed to sneak out of your parents' hollow."

"Where are Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Tyler, Ricardo and Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett?" asked Carla.

"Jojo, Felix and Lavender are on their way," said Charlotte, "But I'm not sure about the other five."

"How did your parents react to the myth?" asked Matilda. When Carla, Bia and Tiago all gave the reply with disappointed faces, Matilda said, "I'll take that as they had dismissed the myth as fabricated, then."

"Our parents had also dismissed the story as silly stuff for chicks," said Virgil.

"Did they?" asked Bia, "Well, Mom and Dad have said something else, they want to go to the Navyfeather Clan's territory to complain to Uncle Neptune and Aunt Ultramarine about their chicks' influence on us with fantasy stories at sunrise. That is why we've got up so early."

"That's also why we've got up early too," said Virgil. He then gazed into the dark jungle lit up by the silvery shafts of moonlight. "And I'm sure the others would have had the same reactions from their parents when they told them about the myth and had decided to get up early and sneak out of their hollows and their tribe and clan's territories too."

As Virgil said this, the sounds of several wing flaps reached the ears of the seven chicks. At this, they looked up and saw ten red birds approach them. Five were scarlet, four were green-winged and the other was a scarlet/green-winged hybrid based on the mixed contours on his wings. At this, Carla went over to meet them as they touched down before the Spix macaw chicks.

"Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto?" she said in surprise.

"Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre?" said Bia.

"And Estelle, Sheldon and Byron," added Tiago.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Justin. Io breathed a sigh before speaking.

"We couldn't sleep last night," she said, "So we decided to sneak out of our parents' hollows and meet you here."

"Mimas and her six siblings, together with Brooke and Bastian," said Europa, "Are on their way and will be here shortly. They've just gone to round up Miranda and her three sisters and brother, Phoebe and her two sisters, Aurelio and his two brothers and Alessandro and Mariposa first."

"I suppose your parents had reacted negatively to the story as well when you told them, did they?" asked Charlotte. Ganymede sighed.

"I'm afraid so," he said, "They also are planning on visiting the Navyfeather Clan at dawn."

"Our Mom and Dad's reaction to the story was no different either," said Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre flanking him.

"They dismissed it as a merely fabricated story," said Deimos.

"Our parents were the same as well," said Estelle.

"Looks like we've got something in common," said Virgil.

"Are we going to go to the meeting tree once Mimas and the others get here?" asked Callisto.

"We will once Jojo, Felix and Lavender show up," said Carla. Then as if on cue, the sounds of flapping of three pairs of wings, accompanied by five more, reached the ears of the group.

"We're here, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil," said Jojo as he, his brother and sister and Ricardo, Tyler, Músculo, Turquesa and Garrett touched down. When Tyler and Ricardo saw the red macaws, he smiled slightly.

"Looks like you ten have decided to come all the way here to meet us at the ravine," said Ricardo.

"We couldn't sleep at all," said Io miserably, "We just felt we could do with your company."

"Well, once Mimas and the others turn up according to Callisto," said Carla, "We're gonna be off to our meeting tree."

"But what about Triton, Indigo, and Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor?" asked Matilda. Carla was about to reply when six blue or turquoise birds with grey heads and three larger navy blue birds, one wearing a fruit-shell hat, appeared behind the red macaw chicks.

"To answer that question, Matilda," said one of the glaucous macaws, Charon, "We're right here."

At this, the Spix and red macaws turned and almost flinched and gasped in shock at the unexpected appearance of Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor and their two friends Neytiri and Juan, and Triton, Indigo and Victor. Jojo and Felix's head feathers spiked out while Lavender's ponytail feathers flared like porcupine spines, like how Roberto's crest did whenever he got frightened or angry. Carla caught her chest as her heart beat quickly from the shock.

"Charon, guys," she murmured in relief, "You scared us to death."

"Can you not just suddenly appear out of nowhere again like that please?" asked Phobos, "You know how startling it can be if you just appear?"

"Especially when it is dark," said Bia.

"Sorry," said Charon apologetically.

"It's okay," said Carla, "Just… don't appear like that again, okay?"

"And certainly don't give these three rascals any ideas for their next prank either," said Sheldon firmly, and with that, he shot Europa, Tiago and Matilda a glare. The three just smiled. Tiago and Matilda had done a prank like this on Sheldon once and he had not been very impressed for he did not like surprise appearances. They always frightened him. As Jojo and Felix flattened their spiked head feathers, Blueberry looked on.

"Do your head feathers always seem to stand on end each time you have a fright?" she asked.

"They do," said Felix as he flattened his three-layered crest by brushing them with his wings, "Especially mine. I always come out looking like a pineapple whenever my head feathers flare out."

"Uncle Beto has that same expressive feature," said Justin.

"He must have passed it onto all three of his chicks," said Bia, looking from Felix to Jojo and to Lavender. "Even Lavender seems to have the trait."

"Jojo certainly does look a lot like Mr Roberto," said Neytiri in fascination as she looked Jojo up and down. "But Felix and Lavender… they have an unusual colour to their feathers."

"We've never actually seen a purple Spix macaw before," said Juan. Lavender, at this, gazed at her plumage.

"We'll, I'm not exactly purple technically but, I'm light blue with a lilac tint," she said.

"It is an unusual colour for your species," said Ganymede. Then Triton, Indigo and Victor stepped forward.

"Are we gonna go to the meeting tree yet?" asked Triton.

"Not until Mimas and the others show up," said Carla, "It might be a while yet since their territories are so far away."

"I hope they turn up before dawn comes," said Tiago worriedly, his brown eyes on the eastern horizon. The sky was showing signs of illumination, a strip of white beginning to eat away at the dark blue-black of the night sky. A bright object hovered above the horizon.

"What's that bright thing?" asked Neytiri. Bia saw the bright speck.

"That's the planet Venus," she said, "It is the brightest planet in the sky. Because it is often seen before sunrise or after sunset, it is sometimes called the 'Morning' or Evening Star'."

"Interesting," said Jojo as he gazed at it.

"Isn't that what Mrs Venus was named after?" asked Tyler curiously.

"Yes," said Justin, "Apparently, her parents named her after that planet, and so did her former owners when she was purchased as a chick."

"In fact," said Phobos, "All nine of our parents are named after planets and dwarf planets. Dad is named after the Red Planet, Mars."

"And our Dad, the largest planet in the solar system," said Io.

"Interesting," said Ricardo with a smile. As he said this, Estelle and Byron gazed out into the dark jungle.

"Here they come," said Byron when he and Estelle saw some small shapes melt out of the shadows. At this, the group of Spix, scarlet, green-winged, hyacinth and glaucous macaw chicks pattered over to the edge of the ravine's clifftop and saw a group of birds approach them. Nine were blue-and-gold macaws, three were blue-throated, three were Lear's, five were great green and the other two a chestnut-fronted and a blue-headed. At the front of the group were Mimas and Miranda. Some of the macaws looked tired and were trying to fight the drowsiness threatening to come over them based on their half-asleep eyes. However, they had an important meeting to contend. As Mimas, Miranda and the others behind them including Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette, Aurelio, Wilbur and Azul touched down, Carla stepped forward to greet them.

"Mimas, Miranda, guys, you've made it," she said. Mimas flopped down on her stomach.

"It wasn't half a long flight, I can tell you," she muttered.

"It is risky flying through the jungle at night after all," said Enceladus.

"Once or twice, some of us almost got lost in the dark maze of rainforest," muttered Tethys, Dione and Rhea together.

"No wonder our parents were cross with us with turning up so late last night," said Titan.

"We're gonna have to stay together when we go to our meeting tree," said Iapetus. Alessandro and Mariposa, looks of nervousness on their faces, nodded in agreement.

"Well at least you guys have made it," said Carla.

"I hope this occasion is rare," muttered Miranda, "I hate flying around in the dark. I always think that a nocturnal predator is gonna jump out at us."

She then shuddered as she gazed into the night jungle, her green, red, blue and yellow feathers on end. Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon also shuddered.

"Miranda's right," said Phoebe, "You never know what's lurking in the dark."

"And remembering those creepy stories Mom told us of macaws going missing at night certainly didn't help either," muttered Jasmine, "I sometimes had nightmares about losing my family."

"Not to mention the incident Aunt Venus faced with those horrible flying foxes that night after the fire three years ago," put in Annette. Aurelio, Wilbur and Azul nodded in agreement. The three blue-throated macaw brothers looked half-asleep but were fighting the tiredness. Then Carla said, "At least you made it."

Turning to the group as a whole, Carla said, "Right, are we ready to go to our tree?"

This was met with disagreeing looks on the faces of most of the macaws.

"Can't we just have our meeting here?" asked Justin with a frown.

"Yeah, I agree with Miranda," said Charlotte, "I don't like flying through the dark jungle."

"I don't feel it's safe either," said Matilda, "After all, flying through a dark jungle is risky business, especially for near-adolescent macaws such as us."

The other macaws all murmured in agreement. Bia and Tiago also gave Carla and agreeing glare. Carla then smiled.

"Okay, we'll have our meeting here but we must be quick as some of the macaws from our tribe will be up soon," she gazed into the still-dark ravine, the roaring waterfall at the far end. Carla knew that some of the macaw tribe members woke up before sunrise and since the light from the still-hidden sun was growing in the eastern horizon every minute, Carla knew that the group didn't have much time. So the macaws all sat down in a circle around Carla, Bia and Tiago as they opened up the meeting.

"Well, I'm glad all of you have made the effort to come here despite it still being dark," said Carla to the group, stealing a glance from the dark jungle which will soon be light, "But this meeting will have to be a short and quick one."

Her green eyes then travelled over the gathering as she asked, "So I assume all of you have been in trouble with your parents, am I correct?"

This was met by nods from the other macaws including Alessandro and Mariposa.

"Also, we've overheard our parents planning on going over to the Navyfeather Clan to complain as well," said Phoebe who was flanked by Jasmine and Annette.

"The same with the rest of us," said Aurelio who sat with Wilbur and Azul.

"Looks like poor Uncle Neptune and Aunt Ultramarine is going to be facing a lot of macaws complaining about their kids being influenced by their two chicks," said Mimas worriedly.

"We have also been grounded for influencing you lot as well," said Triton, "For that reason."

Indigo and Victor both nodded in agreement to this.

"And Mom and Dad were especially cross with me when I told them what I told you as well," said Victor.

"And as for the myth itself being true," said Enceladus, "It seems that all of us had been met with the same reaction from our parents."

"Yeah," said Alexandre who sat with Phobos and Deimos, "Especially their dismissing the myth as unreal and just a fabricated story for chicks."

The others all murmured in agreement.

"Mom also said that there are no such things as giant lizards, bat-birds and bizarre birds unlike us," said Mariposa.

"She's probably never heard of animals called pterosaurs and dinosaurs," said Virgil.

"Well, I don't know," said Mariposa with a shrug. Then Sheldon, who sat with Byron, Estelle, Io and Europa, frowned at Carla, Bia and Tiago and then at Triton, Indigo and Victor.

"Anyway, are you sure that the story is real?" he asked doubtfully, "I don't think it could be."

Triton, Indigo and Victor just said nothing when Bia stood up.

"Well, I think it's possible," she said, "After all, some animals that had been believed to have been extinct for a long time has been found alive, such as the coelacanth fish."

"Coelacanth?" repeated Sheldon confused.

"It's a type of fish that has fleshy lobes," said Ganymede, "Some scientists believed that it died out with the dinosaurs but one specimen had been found off the coast of Africa."

"So if that coelacanth has been found alive," said Bia, "Then that doesn't mean that there could be dinosaurs or even those feathered theropods that could be still alive today."

At this, understanding dawned upon some of the macaws.

"You mean birds with the long tails like _Archaeopteryx_?" asked Titan, "Then that means that the bizarre birds in the myth could well be birds like that one or even those dinosaur-like birds with the feathered legs like _Microraptor_ , and the bat-birds pterosaurs."

"Let me get this straight," said Carla, "Are you talking about those weird lizard-like creatures with feathers?"

"Yes, Carla," said Titan. Estelle, Sheldon and Byron, as well as Brooke and Bastian (the two friends of Titan and his siblings), Alessandro and Mariposa, Músculo, Turquesa and Garrett, all exchanged confused glances while Victor, Neytiri and Juan smiled with fascination.

"Uh, but we've never heard of birds with long, prehensile tails like a lizard," said Estelle.

"Sounds like something from one of Triton, Indigo and Victor's clan's stories," said Byron.

"I know a number of those stories have some really bizarre creatures," said Sheldon, "Especially that heroic macaw group one with the half-eagle, half-jaguar beast."

"Or even the one with the electrical dragon-like creature," said Brooke who sat with Dione, Rhea and Tethys. Then Carla decided to cut to the chase.

"Well, let's get this over with," she said, "Since this myth about the Bizarre Birds and Treasure is believed to exist in Guyana, we're gonna have to decide what we will need and what we need to do. Any ideas?"

She looked expectantly at the group. Then Tiago came forward.

"I know," he said, "Since we will be treasure hunting, we will need something to carry the treasure in on the return journey, like a bag or something."

"Do you have any ideas on that, bro?" asked Carla. Tiago, at this, paused.

"Maybe those plastic shopping bags?" he asked.

"I'm afraid they're too weak," said Justin who sat with Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Felix and Lavender, "They'd break real easily."

"Leaf bags?" asked Io but Justin also shook his head to this suggestion.

"They'd break too," he said, "We need something strong enough to resist breaking which would result in our precious contents being lost. Something durable…"

As he said this, Bia had a thought while the others all shrugged.

"We don't know of anything we could take that is durable," said Estelle, "The only strongest thing we could think of is leaf and stick bags but they'd take ages to construct."

"And the deadline of the debt problem is a month away as well," said Europa, "It would take too much time…"

"Too right," said Justin, "Too right."

Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil also all sighed when Bia finally found the opportunity to speak.

"I know," she said, "We'll use fanny packs."

All eyes turned to her.

"Fanny packs?" repeated Jojo confused.

"They're pouches humans use to carry things," said Matilda, "They're also called bum bags because they strap to the waist of humans."

"Carla, do you remember Dad taking a fanny pack with him to carry our things and the GPS on our first trip to the Amazon?" asked Bia. Carla, at this, looked at her confused but then understanding washed over her.

"That's it," she said, "Brilliant idea, sis!"

"Yeah," said Charlotte, "Fanny packs are available in human cities; they're strong enough to carry heavy things and are resistant to breaking."

"Yes," said Virgil in agreement, "Bia, you're a genius."

"Yes, absolutely," said Ganymede in agreement. Bia blushed at the complement.

"Right, that's that out of the way," said Carla, "Now the next question. How do we get to Guyana?"

This was met with silence when Carla remembered Titan mentioning Tulio's plans to go to Guyana.

"Of course," said Carla, "That question has already been answered. In fact, Titan has already provided the answer during yesterday evening's meeting."

Titan smiled but Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon and some of the others looked doubtful.

"But… when will Tulio's flight be?" asked Miranda.

"What if he's already left for Guyana?" asked Ariel.

"We could only try," said Justin.

"Well, if Tulio is planning to fly to Guyana," said Umbriel, "then that means…"

"Means what?" asked Carla.

"…then it means that he may fly from Rio," said Umbriel. Then a thought hit her head.

"That's it," she said, "We'll go to Rio and gather our supplies there. We'll get our fanny packs, and of course for the journey, we will need some fruit…"

This was met with smiles from the other chicks.

"Brilliant idea, Umbriel," said Phoebe, "I'd never thought of that."

"You've got it spot on, Umbriel," said Carla. Umbriel just shrugged as Ariel, Oberon, Titania and Miranda applauded her. Then Carla moved on to the final part.

"Now then," she said, stealing a glance from the eastern direction, "Since we've got everything pretty much sorted, we'd better get off."

This was met by shock from the other macaws.

"What?" asked Jojo confused.

"Right now?" asked Felix. Carla nodded.

"Yes, right now," she said, "Have you guys noticed that dawn is approaching?"

At this, the group stole a glance at the brightening eastern horizon.

"It won't be long until the sun peers above the horizon," said Aurelio, one of the blue-throated macaw brothers.

"That's right," said Carla.

"Then that means that the first macaws of our tribes and clans will be getting up early," said Io worriedly, "We'd better get back before our parents wake up."

Charon, Blueberry, Quincy, Flor, Neytiri and Juan then began to become restless as nervousness crept in, before an idea entered Blueberry's head.

"Wait," she said, "Before we all take off for Manaus and then for Rio, I have something to say."

"What is it, Blueberry?" asked Carla as all eyes turned to her. Blueberry paused as the others gazed at her.

"Wouldn't it be best if only some of us go?" she asked.

"What makes you say that?" asked Tiago. Then Aurelio saw where Blueberry was getting to.

"Of course," he said, "I know what she means."

"What does she mean?" asked Jojo, Felix and Lavender standing on his left and Tyler, Ricardo, Músculo, Turquesa and Garrett to his right.

"If we all went to Guyana," said Aurelio, "Our parents are gonna wonder where we've gone and would likely conduct a search. Furthermore, a bigger group of macaws would be vulnerable should we run into any danger from, say poachers or predators for example."

"Oh, that's a thought," said Carla, "I'd never thought of that."

"But if some of us stay behind," continued Blueberry, "One, we'd cover for you and we could simply tell our parents that you have decided to go to Rio and two, you'd not have as many macaws to slow you down on the trip, and three, some of us may have siblings, either newly hatched or on the way to help take care of."

And with that, she gazed at Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre.

"Yeah, that sounds logical," said Io.

"But that brings up another question," said Justin, "Who will go and who will stay?"

Now this was a question as all the macaws in the group wanted to go on the quest, but at the same time they also wanted to stay. The journey to Guyana on a quest to find something that might not exist was going to be a risky task, and the journey was likely to be fraught with danger of every kind. It was in an unknown place and far away from home, but the group knew that it was important. It took a while for each macaw to reach his or her final decision, but Carla, Bia and Tiago had already made theirs.

"Well, we're gonna go," said Carla, her wings on Bia and Tiago's shoulders. "Anyone wants to cone with us? Please walk over to us if you do."

At first, the others just stood there, but then Justin stepped forward and joined the three siblings.

"I'll go," he said. Then Virgil and Matilda came over.

"We'll come with you as well," said Virgil.

"I'll especially miss you, Tiago," said Matilda. Tiago just shrugged. After the three had joined them, Carla, Bia and Tiago looked at the other macaws.

"Anyone else?" asked Carla. Then Phoebe volunteered and joined the group while Jasmine and Annette, having decided to stay behind, did not move. Next, Alexandre and Estelle stepped over to the group, but Phobos and Deimos stayed behind.

"We can't come with you guys," said Phobos, "One, we have a little sister to help take care of, and two, our small size might make us more vulnerable."

"Especially if we have to fly very fast to escape danger," said Deimos. As he said this, Io, Ganymede and Sheldon stepped over, leaving Callisto and Europa behind with Byron.

"I'll come with you," said Ganymede to Carla, Bia and Tiago, "I'd miss you three."

Next, Mimas, Titan and Brooke stepped over, while Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Bastian, having made their decision to stay behind, remained with the stayers. Then Miranda and Oberon stepped over, followed by Triton, Blueberry, Charon, and Neytiri, Azul, and then Jojo and Lavender, and finally, Alessandro. Those that were left were Ariel, Umbriel and Titania, Quincy, Flor and Juan, Indigo and Victor, Wilbur and Aurelio, and Felix, Turquesa, Tyler, Ricardo, Garrett and Músculo, and Mariposa. Once the volunteers had finished stepping over to Carla's group, Carla looked back at those who volunteered to stay.

"Anyone else?" she asked. None of the macaws replied. As soon as she saw that the macaws had made their decision, Carla prepared to leave with those who had opted to go on the trip but not before saying goodbye to the stayers. However, this was very difficult for both groups were reluctant to part. Justin, Virgil and Matilda could see that Charlotte was nervous and worried. This would be the last moments the four siblings and offspring of Zephyr and Venus will have together for a while and in the coming few days or weeks, they will be split apart. Overcome with this fact, Charlotte hugged her sister and two brothers.

"I hope you three have a safe journey," she murmured, "And make sure you keep an eye on Carla and the other two, as well as the others."

"We will, sis," said Justin. Virgil and Matilda closed their eyes as they hugged their sister. Next to the siblings, Tyler, Ricardo and Felix were hugging Jojo and Lavender, together with Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo. Nearby, Europa and Callisto were hugging Ganymede and Io while Phobos and Deimos hugged Alexandre. Estelle and Sheldon were hugged by Byron while Titan, Brooke and Mimas were hugged by Bastian, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus.

"We're gonna miss you guys," said Enceladus tearfully.

"Make sure you keep the others and yourselves safe," said Bastian. Titan, Mimas and Brooke returned the hug. Next to them, Miranda and Oberon were hugged by Ariel, Umbriel and Titania while Phoebe was hugged by Jasmine and Annette. Azul was hugged by Aurelio and Wilbur while Triton, Blueberry, Charon and Neytiri were hugged by Indigo, Victor, Quincy, Flor and Juan. After that, the goers then went round to hug the other stayers. However, it was only a quick one as twilight of the eastern horizon continued to grow.

"Please make sure you keep my cousin, Charon, Blueberry and Triton safe," said Juan as he hugged Carla, Bia and Tiago with Flor and Quincy.

"Yes," said Quincy, "We don't want any of them facing the same situation as Flor did last year."

"We will, you three," said Carla as she returned the hug with Juan, Quincy and Flor. Then after the groups had broken their hugs, they spent their final moments together bidding each other goodbye.

"Also, make sure you avoid talking to any bird or animal you don't know," said Charlotte firmly.

"And especially keep out of trouble," said Tyler who stood with Ricardo.

"The last thing we want is any of you getting hurt or killed while over there," said Turquesa who stood with Músculo and Garrett.

"I hope you lot will find the treasure and return with it to save the sanctuary from losing its status as a protected reserve," said Felix.

"The sanctuary's fate rests on your shoulders," said Europa who stood with Callisto, Byron, Phobos and Deimos. Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Bastian all nodded in agreement.

"We will do our best, you lot," said Carla as she prepared to lead the team away. Then Aurelio, Wilbur, Jasmine and Annette saw a few cerulean specks in the habitat of the ravine.

"You'd better be off," said Jasmine, "Some of the Spix macaw tribe is waking up."

"I can see Mr Eduardo," said Annette.

"We'd better be off as well," said Ariel. Umbriel and Titania nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, our parents will soon be up as well," said Mariposa the blue-headed macaw as she watched the growing twilight, indicating that the sun was nearly up. the darkness of the night was constantly being eaten away by the light and the stars were receding as the sun's light smothered them. Indigo and Victor then twitched and became restless. They were itching to go back to the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaw tribe's territory before their parents woke up. Then Carla looked at the brightening eastern horizon one final time.

"Right, we're off," she said and with one final look at those that were going to stay, Carla said, "We'll be back in a few days. It just depends on how long we are able to find the treasure."

"Well, I hope you don't stay over there for too long," said Turquesa, "Because you know, the deadline is one on the away."

Carla, Bia and Tiago nodded in agreement and with that, they opened their wings and took off. Phoebe followed close behind them with Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender, then Alexandre, Estelle, Io, Ganymede and Sheldon flowed behind them, then Mimas, Titan and Brooke, Miranda and Oberon, then Triton, Blueberry, Charon and Neytiri, Azul and Alessandro last of all. As the group receded into the distance, the stayers all shouted goodbye until they were all out of earshot. After this, Tyler and Ricardo gazed into the ravine.

"Right, let's go back to our homes before our parents wake up," said Tyler.

"Yeah, we don't want another yelling at from our parents for wandering off into the night," said Phobos. And with that, the group all took off, said goodbye to each other and then scattered to fly off in the directions of their home tribes and clans' territories. Phobos, Deimos, Europa, Callisto and Byron left for Felipe's tribe's home, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania, together with Jasmine and Annette and Aurelio and Wilbur, and Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Bastian, left for the green, Lear's and blue-and-gold macaw tribes' homes and the home of the blue-throated macaw clan and Bluewing hyacinth macaws on the far side of the sanctuary with Mariposa in tow for her little group lived on that side of the sanctuary too. Indigo, Victor, Quincy, Flor and Juan left for the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaw tribe's home while Tyler, Ricardo, Charlotte, Felix, Músculo, Garrett and Turquesa returned to the Spix macaw tribe's ravine, quickly sneaking back into their parents' hollows before their parents woke up.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- the start of the long and difficult wait for the stayers**

 **Morning**

The sun had fully risen into the eastern sky to greet the day, and the ravine of the Spix macaw tribe was alive with Spix macaw calls and flashes of cerulean and blue moving through the air. However, none of them were aware that some of the chicks were missing. Eduardo, who had risen during dawn, was setting up patrol groups to send out into the area, including one to the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaw clan's territory to help Demetrio and Reynaldo's clan patrols to check on the border to the flying fox colony's territory like they always did every day. While Eduardo did this, Mimi had plastered her face with mud and covered her eyes with flowers in her daily morning fascial and was resting on her back at the entrance to her hollow. Elsewhere, parents were having breakfast with their chicks while at the same time prepared to take their chicks to classes but some parents were preparing to go to the Navyfeather Clan's home patch about something. Zephyr and Venus had chosen a mango, two guavas and a few berries for themselves and their four offspring for breakfast.

"Justin, Charlotte," called Zephyr up the hollow, "Matilda, Virgil. It's time to get up and have breakfast."

He then left as Venus sorted out the fruit including cutting up the mango into segments with her beak. As she did that, Charlotte emerged from the hollow, allowing a yawn to escape her beak. As she approached her parents, Zephyr turned to see that three of the chicks were missing.

"Where are Justin, Virgil and Matilda, Charlotte?" he asked. Venus also looked up as she placed the mango slices into six piles.

"Oh," said Charlotte when she was struck with this question. "Um…"

"They should be up by now," said Venus with a frown, "It's breakfast time."

Charlotte continued to think. How was she going to put Carla and company's departure into words without revealing their real destination? Finally, she found a suitable selection of words.

"They've… they've left for Rio early this morning," she replied. Zephyr and Venus, at this looked at each other and then back at Charlotte.

"They've left for Rio?" repeated Venus confused, "But it's not yet summer. Why have they left for Rio?"

"Th-they wanted a change of scenery," said Charlotte, stifling a stumble in her words, "They told me they were getting bored of seeing the same cliffs and waterfall of the ravine all the time and wanted to fly to Rio to visit our old friends. I decided to stay behind."

"But they can't just leave us without telling us," muttered Zephyr with a frown. Just then, Blu, Jewel, Brisa and Roberto appeared. Blu had learned to avoid sleeping in over the years and was now getting up earlier.

"Hey, Zephyr, Venus," said Blu, "Have you seen Carla, Bia and Tiago anywhere?"

"They're not in their rooms," said Jewel.

"Also, Jojo and Lavender are missing," said Roberto. "Only Felix is present but not the other two."

At this, Charlotte stepped in.

"Oh, they've left for Rio this morning with Justin, Matilda and Virgil as well," she said, "Like my two brothers and sister, they wanted a change of scenery as well, and Jojo and Lavender wanted to see what Rio is like for they had never visited that place before."

Charlotte hoped that this story would cover up Carla and her group's real reason for the journey. To her relief, the six adults fell for it. However, looks of surprise and scepticism crossed their faces.

"It's a bit unusual for Jojo and Lavender to leave without Felix," said Brisa with a frown, "If our offspring wanted to go to Rio, I would have thought they would have went together."

"Well, as long as they look after each other," said Venus firmly, "And do as their elders in that city tell them as well as obey safety rules, then they should be alright. They are coming close to leaving the nest after all."

"I don't know," murmured Blu, "They're still a bit young, I believe. And to leave for Rio this early in the morning, it seems a bit…" he tipped his head to one side, "strange."

"How long are they going to stay in Rio, Charlotte?" asked Roberto.

"About a week or two," said Charlotte quickly.

"Week or two?" repeated Brisa with a frown. Just then, Felix appeared to back Charlotte up.

"It's just to give Jojo and Lavender time to meet your old friends including that blended family of sulfur-crested and Major Mitchell's cockatoos," he said, "However, I didn't feel ready to leave for Rio yet so I stayed behind. Maybe I'll go to Rio sometime in the future."

Felix gazed with hope that Blu, Jewel, Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Venus would believe these little lies. Then Zephyr interrupted.

"Well, let's eat our breakfast and then go over to the Navyfeather Clan's territory," he said, "We've got an important complaint to make. Charlotte, breakfast."

Charlotte obeyed her father's command and picked up a mango piece while Roberto ordered Felix back to his family's hollow to also have breakfast. As he left after his parents, Felix stole Charlotte a 'So far, so good' glance and Charlotte nodded. Then Charlotte began to eat her mango with Zephyr and Venus while Blu and Jewel returned to their hollow to check on their two eggs and eat their selection of fruit as well.

"We'll meet you back here after we have finished breakfast," said Blu as he left.

"Okay, see you shortly," said Zephyr as he ate some berries. Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief as she ate the mango pieces. The first stage of convincing the six adults that Carla and company had left for Rio without divulging the true intentions of their trip proved to be a success.

 **The red tribe's home patch**

In Felipe's tribe's trees, Felipe was setting up patrols to send out into the territory while Pearl cared for Benjamin, Regina and Alfonso. Scarlet and green-winged macaws, like the Spix macaws, were also preparing to take their chicks to classes and were first having breakfast. In Jupiter and Ruby's tree, Jupiter and Ruby were eating berries and a Brazil nut which they shared together. They had set up some berries, guavas and two Brazil nuts for their four offspring. Having taken inspiration from the blue-and-gold tribe who always shared Brazil nuts, the scarlet and green-winged macaws and their Spix neighbours had learned to reduce the number of Brazil nuts eaten by sharing. It was more economic than having a Brazil nut each and it built and strengthened friendships. As Jupiter and Ruby ate their breakfast, Europa and Callisto turned up. The two sisters looked drowsy due to lack of sleep last night. However, they tried to conceal their tiredness.

"Morning, Mom, Dad," said Callisto with a managed smile.

"Your breakfast is here," said Jupiter firmly with a nod to the pile of fruit. At this, Callisto and Europa walked over to the fruit and picked up some berries when Ruby noticed that two of the chicks were missing.

"Where are Ganymede and Io?" she asked.

"Oh," said Europa with her beak full of berries.

"Don't talk with your mouthful," commanded Jupiter firmly, "It's impolite."

Europa obeyed and waited until she had swallowed the berries in her beak. After this, she spoke.

"Ganymede and Io have left with Carla, Bia and Tiago and some other chicks to go to Rio," she said, "They wanted to see their old friends such as Aunt Sunset, Uncle Travis and Eustace, Milo and Rosa."

Callisto nodded in agreement. "They'll not be back for a few days," she added. Jupiter and Ruby shot their daughters a surprised look.

"But it's a bit early to go to Rio," muttered Jupiter with a disbelieving frown. Callisto was about to reply when the four heard a knock at the entrance to the hollow.

"Enter," said Jupiter. At this, a male green-winged macaw with two smaller macaws of the same species, also male, flanking him entered the hollow.

"Are you ready to go to the Navyfeather Clan's territory, Jupiter and Ruby?" asked Mars who was flanked by Phobos and Deimos, "Estelle, Byron and Sheldon's parents are waiting outside for you as we are gonna go together. However, Chiqutitia cannot come for she has Gabrielle to take care of."

"We've just started having breakfast," said Ruby, "Just wait outside and we'll join you."

"Okay," said Mars. His gaze then focussed on Callisto and Europa who flinched at the harsh frown. It was the typical parental glare, used whenever a chick had been naughty and was in trouble, and Callisto and Europa could sense it.

"And I hope those two and their brother and sister who have left with Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon, and some of the others on their trip to Rio could do with learning an important lesson as well," said Mars harshly, before gazing at Phobos and Deimos, "Not to mention these two, and Byron who is outside as well."

Phobos and Deimos looked back at their father and sighed.

"And I hope Neptune and Pedro had applied some discipline to their chicks as well," said Jupiter in agreement, "About influencing our chicks into believing in some silly fantasy story to be real."

Europa and Callisto just said nothing but Phobos spoke. He and Deimos had told Mars and Chiquitita that Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon had left with Carla and some others to go to Rio early as well.

"Will Alexandre and the others face punishment when they come back?" asked Phobos.

"Yes they will," said Mars in his typical disciplinary tone of voice, making Phobos flinch, "They are gonna be grounded for a whole month."

He then gazed back at Jupiter and Ruby and added, "I don't know why that group of chicks had decided to depart to Rio but I hope they don't stay there too long."

"Who else has gone to Rio besides Ganymede, Io, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon, and Carla, Bia and Tiago, you two?" asked Jupiter, making Callisto and Europa snap their gazes to him for they were unprepared for this. Finally Europa found words.

"Phoebe, one of Uncle Mercury and Aunt Sapphire's daughters," she said, "Azul, one of Aunt Ceres and Uncle Cobalto's sons, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Lavender, Titan, Mimas and Brooke, Miranda and Oberon, erm…"

Callisto trailed off as she was reluctant to say Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry and Triton's names. Jupiter rolled his eyes.

"We'll find out who else has left for Rio," he said, "But let's put that to one side and focus on what we've got to do."

And with that, he and Ruby downed the rest of their breakfast while Mars, Phobos and Deimos retreated to outside. Callisto and Europa shot each other an uneasy gaze. The fabrication of the half-truth was clearly unstable and might not last long. The real truth of Carla and the others' whereabouts will have to come out eventually but Callisto and Europa wanted to stall their parents for time as long as possible. It was an awkward and difficult situation. After this, Jupiter ordered the two sisters out and they immediately rushed for the hollow's entrance. Soon, Mars, Jupiter, Ruby and the parents of Sheldon, Estelle and Byron were airborne, Byron, Phobos, Deimos, Europa and Callisto in tow, and the group headed off for the direction of the Navyfeather Clan's territory.

 **Later, in the Navyfeather Clan's territory**

A colourful collection of macaws of various species, Spix, green-winged, scarlet, great green, blue-and-gold, Lear's, blue-throated and glaucous, together with a few smaller blue-headed macaws and several chestnut-fronted macaws from Alessandro's family including his parents, had gathered with Neptune, Ultramarine, Pedro, Bruna, Flavio and Marinho and were making their complaints. Among the crowd were Blu and Jewel, Zephyr, Brisa, Roberto and Venus and they clearly looked angry. While the adults talked, the chicks were kept under the watchful eye of some adult hyacinth and glaucous macaws. The chicks who had remained behind, Charlotte, Felix and Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett from the Spix tribe, Phobos, Deimos, Callisto, Europa and Byron from the red macaw tribe, Jasmine and Annette from the Lear's macaw tribe, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Bastian from the blue-and-gold macaw tribe, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania from the green macaw tribe, Quincy, Flor and Juan from the glaucous macaw tribe, Aurelio and Wilbur from the blue-throated macaw clan, Indigo and Victor from the Navyfeather Clan of hyacinth macaws and Mariposa from the small group of blue-headed macaws watched the scene as Neptune, Ultramarine, Bruna and Pedro, together with Flavio and Marinho, offered their apologies to the complainers. Mariposa sighed as she watched her parents, Skyla and Jairo, who like ever other parent of the chicks present, wore disgusted and angry expressions on their faces as they spoke to Neptune. Indigo sighed and gazed at a bromeliad flower while Victor fiddled with a leaf.

"When we told Mom and Dad of Triton's whereabouts," murmured Indigo to Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo who sat next to her, "They were even crosser than before and had extended my grounding time."

"Same here," said Victor.

"We know the feeling," said Turquesa, "Dad also grounded me for a few weeks. I'm not even allowed to go out with friends during that time."

"It seems that we're all in trouble," said Garrett, his eyes travelling to Charlotte and Felix who sat with Jasmine, Annette, Aurelio and Wilbur. The six looked miserable, also having been grounded by their parents.

"We're all on the same perch," said Músculo with a sigh, "Based on what Dione told me, she and her remaining four siblings, Enceladus, Tethys, Rhea and Iapetus, together with Bastian, had been grounded like us. However, she did say that she told Mr Saturn and Mrs Orquidea that Carla and the others missing had gone to Rio."

He gazed at the group of six blue-and-gold macaw chicks as they sat together with Quincy, Flor and Juan, and Ricardo and Tyler (the sons of Nuvem and Cassia).

"Ariel, Umbriel and Titania have also faced the same grounding punishment," said Turquesa, gazing at the trio of near-identical great-green macaws as they sighed, "You should have seen the looks on Mr Uranus and Mrs Esmeralda's faces when they joined us."

"Boy, this is a difficult situation," muttered Victor as he chucked away the leaf and took off his half-fruit shell hat to fiddle with it. "It ain't easy trying to cover for friends who have to travel on a very important quest, you know, but we knew that it was important."

"Especially since the majority of grownups seem to dismiss the idea of certain plausible myths as true;" said Indigo with a hint of despair in her tone of voice, "Our parents seem to see the Bizarre Birds and Treasure story as nothing but nonsense and fantasy stuff."

"Do you think the myth is real?" asked Turquesa. Indigo and Victor did not reply in words but they looked back at her with doubtful expressions on their faces.

"Well, it doesn't sound ridiculously unreal," said Garrett with little doubt, "I know some of the stories of the Navyfeather Clan are a bit ridiculous, such as the half-jaguar, half-eagle beast one but other stories like the Bizarre Birds and Treasure, I believe they sound plausible."

"Yeah, especially since Bia and Titan mentioned feathered creatures that had long tails and feathered legs," said Garrett.

"The bizarre birds in the story actually are described with having long prehensile tails and two sets of wings instead of one, which are the features none of the birds we know of have," said Indigo, "So what Bia and Titan said about these extinct creatures like _Archaeopteryx_ and _Microraptor_ could well come as close as possible as being a match to these creatures."

"Then that is strange," said Músculo, "A bird with flight feathers on both its wings _and_ legs and having a prehensile tail like a lizard? It certainly doesn't sound like any of the birds we have heard of."

"And as for this treasure deposit," said Garrett hopefully, "That might not sound as ridiculous as it seems either."

Victor, Indigo, Turquesa and Músculo all breathed sighs.

"I just hope Carla's group finds this mythical habitat and bring some of the treasure back as soon as possible," muttered Turquesa, "Especially before our parents find out where they had truly gone."

The other four all nodded in agreement.

 **Meanwhile**

Carla's group had flown from Manaus and were now on their way to Rio. Before leaving for Rio, the group had snaffled some fruit to eat before continuing on for they had not had any breakfast in the Amazon. The birds were flying in two groups, one of twelve and the other of thirteen, both in a V-shape. In the first group, the group of thirteen, Carla flew at the front with Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, and Phoebe flying in the left branch, and Jojo, Lavender, Io, Ganymede, Sheldon and Triton flying on her right. The other group, the group of twelve, had Alexandre flying at the front. To Alexandre's left flew Estelle, Mimas, Titan, Brooke and Miranda while Oberon, Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri, Azul and Alessandro flew to Alexandre's right. Flying in a v-formation had been Ganymede's suggestion based on the formation Canadian geese and some other migratory birds take on during their migration journeys. It was an energy-saving technique and it was proving successful. During the first leg of the journey, Tiago had led the first group while Titan led the other until they swapped places with Carla and Alexandre so that the former two could rest.

The outside area of the Amazon was completely new to Estelle, Jojo, Lavender, Neytiri, Brooke, Sheldon and Alessandro, as these seven had never ventured outside their home before. They were both nervous and excited at the same time. Neytiri, who was especially inquisitive, looked forwards to seeing Rio. She smiled with excitement as she watched the landscape of Brazil flow underneath the group.

"Where are we now, Carla?" asked Jojo.

"We're over…" said Carla as she scanned the landscape below, "The state of Pará."

"It's gonna take about three days until we reach Rio," said Bia. At this, Jojo and Lavender sighed. This was a long journey after all but it was too late to turn back now.

"I hope we arrive before Tulio boards that plane to Guyana," murmured Io worriedly.

"We're gonna gather the things we need first," said Carla, "Such as fanny packs, fruit, a map and a compass…"

"Couldn't we have got them in Manaus?" asked Matilda.

"We don't know Manaus that well," said Justin at the front of her, "That is why we're going to Rio instead. We've got animals there who know us very well and I'm sure they'll be willing to help."

"Yeah, but…" said Virgil worriedly, "but what if our animal friends back in Rio also dismiss the existence of the bizarre birds and treasure as nothing but a fabricated story like how our parents did?"

"Let's focus on something else instead," said Justin, "We have plenty of time yet."

While the first group began to talk about another subject, the second group had their own conversation.

"So who are your old friends, Alex?" asked Estelle.

"Well, there's Broccoli and Collette," said Alexandre, "They're two of the offspring of an old vegetarian cat friend of our parents named Veggie and the late Catina. There's Dash and Ginger and their pups, and there's Rafael and Eva the toucans, Nico the canary and his cardinal friend Pedro…"

"That's the same name as Victor's father," said Neytiri, "He's called Pedro."

"It's often a coincidence that two people happen to have the same name," said Blueberry.

"Who else are your old friends?" asked Estelle.

"There are a sulfur-crested cockatoo named Travis and his Major Mitchell's mate Sunset," said Alexandre, "You'll see what they look like when we arrive there. There are their offspring Eustace, Milo and Rosa. They are hybrids like Sheldon is a hybrid of a scarlet and green-winged macaw, and then there are Cometa, her mate Lightning and their son Orion and daughter Velocity. They are peregrine falcons."

"Peregrine falcons," repeated Alessandro, "I've heard of those birds before. Didn't those sneaky poachers who managed to intrude into the sanctuary have six of them?"

"Yes," said Azul, "Cometa was one of those falcons but she defected to our side because she was disgusted at the idea of poaching birds, especially from a protected reserve."

"And also because of the infamous Nigel and how he treated us," said Blueberry, distaste in her tone as she said the infamous cockatoo's name, "Cometa told us that she frequently felt nauseated when she was around him."

"She must have been very brave to do that," said Neytiri in awe, "I know you told me about that cat named Catina who also defected to the birds' side when she used to work for a group of smugglers."

"She also helped us to deal with that group of poachers that had developed a plan to intrude into the sanctuary disguised as nature studiers," said Charon, putting the explanation into words that Neytiri could understand, "Because she had spent most of her life as a poacher's cat, Catina was well-armed with enough knowledge of stealth to go after that group and help rescue us."

"But sadly, she's died," said Azul sadly, "Nigel had killed her."

Azul shuddered at the memory of seeing that deranged cockatoo's vengeance-crazed look when he charged at the group for the last time, before he tumbled off a drop with Jupiter into a stream. He had almost gone for Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus and their chicks, Carla, Bia, Tiago, and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil but Catina had shoved them out of the way and taken Nigel's attack in their place. Catina's death had been a tragedy for the group, especially for Veggie and the four young cats, Broccoli, Collette, Daisy and Thomas. Then Mimas spoke.

"I believe Catina was the bravest cat we had ever known," she said, "She should be honoured. In fact, Dad had planted a flower to commemorate her."

"I wondered who this 'Catina' was, actually," said Brooke with a slight frown, "And to think of your parents as being friends with a pair of a bird's natural enemies surprises me."

"You'll be surprised at how vegetarian Collette and Broccoli are when we meet them," said Titan, "They are just like their father, and absolutely refuse to eat any fish, bird or mouse, not even a piece of cooked chicken or fish."

"Though Broccoli did try some cooked chicken once but he didn't like it," said Mimas. Brooke shot the two a surprised look. As the group continued to fly along, Miranda sighed.

"Boy, I miss my art book," murmured the female great green macaw, "I could have taken it with me but due to circumstances, I left it at home."

"You'll see it again when we get back, sis," said Oberon with a smile, "I know Bia and Ganymede miss their books."

Then a thought entered his head. "I wonder how Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and the others are doing back home," he murmured, "I hope they aren't in too much trouble, especially Indigo and Victor."

"Well, at least some of us have decided to stay behind," said Estelle, "Because if all of us went, our parents are gonna wonder where we had gone and might become utterly stressed. If some of us stayed behind, one, they'd cover for us and two, they'll put their minds at rest while we go on this trip."

Oberon sighed. It had been a very difficult decision under a tremendous amount of pressure due to the timing of the final meeting before their departure. Saying goodbye to those that had chosen to remain behind had also been difficult, and already Carla's group were missing them. Neytiri especially missed her cousin Juan and hated to think of what penalties he and the others were facing from their parents including his mother Michelle who was also Neytiri's aunt. The division in the broods apart from Blu and Jewel's and the parents who had only one chick was going to remain until the group returned home, with the treasure if it existed and if they found it.

 **Back in the Navyfeather Clan's territory**

Indigo looked out of the small hole in her room, eyes filled with disappointment and sadness. The complaints to Flavio, Marinho, Neptune, Ultramarine, Bruna and Pedro had finally finished and the non-hyacinth macaws had departed to their homes with their chicks in tow. Soon after the colourful group had dispersed, Neptune had ordered Indigo to her room where she was now. Indigo was prohibited from going out for a month except to classes under the supervision of either her mother or father. Indigo hated being watched all the time. It made her feel uncomfortable but because she was still very young, only a kid human terms and not a preteen, Indigo, along with Triton and Victor and the other hyacinth macaw chicks were still looked after by their parents. Adolescence in hyacinth macaws started around close to seven years and can sometimes be as young as five years. However, hyacinth macaws cannot have chicks until they are at least eight years old. As Indigo leaned with her chin on her wings staring out into the space of her clan's home patch, thoughts about Carla's group flowed through her mind. She had hoped that Triton would stay by the others' side throughout the entire journey. Him being technically the youngest of the group, especially mentally, Triton was the most vulnerable and sometimes wandered off, especially when he found something interesting like a butterfly. And the mythical habitat of the bizarre birds and treasure, believed to be located in Guyana, would likely be filled with interesting things. Indigo believed that there was such a place though Neptune and Ultramarine had told her time and time again that it was only a story, which brought Indigo over to a big fear: that statement being true. If that were so, then Carla's journey to Guyana would be wasted, and the Sanctuary de Amazon would face its status as a reserve removed.

While Indigo thought about this, Neptune's voice from outside her room filled her ears. At this, the young hyacinth macaw girl popped her head up and faced the entrance/exit.

"I didn't like the way Flavio said that, Ultramarine."

Driven by curiosity, Indigo walked to the entrance to the room and looked out. She saw that Neptune looked anxious and worried.

"If it happens again, Neptune, then yes," said Ultramarine, "You know what my uncle is like with us influencing other macaws and birds, especially chicks, with make-believe tales such as the Bizarre Birds/Treasure one. I hope Indigo remembers this in the future, especially if she and Triton are gonna attend Carla's group meeting. We don't want to move back to the Blu Bird Sanctuary permanently."

"As for Triton," said Neptune, anger now replacing the anxious look on his face, "When he comes back from the trip to Rio, he's gonna face some serious consequences."

Indigo flinched at the tone of her father's voice as he said this. Then another thought hit her, a dreadful one. Based on Ultramarine's statement about moving back to the sanctuary next to Rio permanently, Indigo knew that Ultramarine was insinuating on one thing, but she didn't like that at all. Overcome with worry and fear, Indigo pressed her back against the wall and slid down it, before getting up and going to her bed-nest. She hoped that the legend was true and real, otherwise there was going to be a heap of trouble, but Indigo knew that between now and Carla's return, it was going to be a difficult time for her. It was going to be a long and agonising wait for poor Indigo, and the others who had chosen to remain behind.

 **The blue-and-gold tribe's territory, Mariposa's group's home**

In the area where the small group of blue-headed macaws lived, Mariposa was also sat in her room. Like Indigo and the others, she had been grounded by her parents for talking about something that sounded fabricated. A look of worry plastered the young blue-headed macaw's face and Mariposa was despondent. Outside a small hole in her room, several leafy green or green-yellow birds with blue heads, leading edges of their wings and blue and red tails decorated the trees. Mariposa's group lived in a large kapok tree whose diameter was enormous with many compartments, like a honeycomb of a beehive. It was one of the largest trees on the sanctuary and was capable of housing several macaw families, especially small macaws like blue-headed macaws. The honeycomb spaces were used as living spaces by the little clan and some were also used to store food. Skyla, Jairo and Mariposa lived in one of the upper chambers, close to the main entrance of the giant tree. As Mariposa stared out into the area through the hole in her room, a knock sounded on the entrance to her room.

"Yes," murmured Mariposa sadly. An adult blue-headed macaw who looked just like Mariposa but had green eyes and a small ruffle on the back of her head came in.

"It is lunch time, Mariposa," Skyla said firmly. At this, Mariposa sighed and retreated from the window. As she followed her mother to the main room where the lunch (consisting of nuts, pineapple slices, peach slices and some berries and guavas) was placed in a large leaf with Jairo sitting beside it waiting for his daughter, Mariposa walked over to the leaf and sat next to it. As she sat down to eat, Skyla said, "I'm gonna be late out tonight due to it being club night. I want you to be on your best behaviour and obey your father's commands and rules while I'm out. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Mother," said Mariposa glumly as she ate a nut.

"And another thing," said Jairo, "I don't want to hear any more about that silly story of weird birds, birds shaped like bats and some fabled treasure anymore, or else your grounding time will be doubled. Is that clear also?"

"Yes, Father," said Mariposa again.

"Good," said Skyla with a smile, "And make sure you obey that rule. I'll be expecting a good report from your father when I get back late in the night."

Mariposa sighed and continued eating her lunch. Skyla and Jairo sometimes told her stories, especially when she was a very young chick; to help her get to sleep and some of those stories were inspired by the Navyfeather Clan's myths. However, the two adult blue-headed macaws had strictly told and reminded Mariposa that these stories were fictional and only made up in order to stop her from believing that they were real. One of Mariposa's favourite stories had been 'Chuck and the Giant Tree' which was about a capybara named Chuck who accidentally grew a giant tree that reached right into the sky and when he climbed to the top, he was in the land of giant eagles from which he snaffled golden seeds from and anything that had fantasy thrown into them, such as this one, Mariposa had been told that these were only pure fiction. Then after Mariposa had finished her lunch, Skyla sent her back to her room. Mariposa sighed and returned to her room and to the window next to her bed-nest to gaze out into the world outside once again.

"Oh, Carla, the rest of you," murmured Mariposa sadly, "I hope you find this mythical treasure and those bizarre birds and come back here with it."

Then she continued to sit there and stare out of her window.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- meeting old friends**

 **Note- much of the upcoming chapters will focus primarily on Carla and her group as they go on their quest to find the treasure. There will be some scenes back in the Sanctuary de Amazon but it is only to catch up on the others back home. The parents will eventually find out about Carla and company's real whereabouts and they will follow them but that will be much later in the story. This story is intended to revolve mostly around Blu and Jewel's chicks and their friends rather than their parents like in the previous stories.**

 **Two days or so later**

Carla and her group had finally arrived in Rio and were not too far away from the city's outskirts. As the familiar city lurked in the distance just above the treeline, the group of 25 birds looked ahead. Like usual, the group flew in two groups, both in V-formation.

"Here we are, everyone," said Carla, "We're close to our destination."

"That's brilliant," said Bia, "We're almost there."

"That place is where you were born, isn't it?" asked Estelle as she flew alongside Alexandre.

"Yes it is," said Tiago, "It is also where Mom met Dad and where Uncle Mercury and the others met their counterparts."

"I remember the story Mom and Dad told us," said Justin with a smile, "It was really romantic."

"Yeah but I still find it gross when they kiss," muttered Matilda. Justin and Virgil tittered at their sister's remark.

"You're not on your own, Matilda," said Tiago, "I sometimes still find my parents' kissing a bit icky too."

"Well, just wait until you meet a special female and fall in love, T," said Alexandre with a smirk, "You might change your mind."

"It could possibly be Matilda," said Estelle, "Since you often hang out with her a lot."

Revulsion tore through Tiago and Matilda and they flinched.

"Ew!" snapped Tiago with a face and his tongue sticking out. He then stole a glance at the Venus lookalike and then looked back at the two green-winged macaws. I can't stand the thought of kissing Matilda here. She's just a close friend but not actually a girlfriend."

"Yeah," said Matilda, "It would be a bit strange at best, and disgusting at worst."

Bia, at this, gazed at her brother and Matilda with a sad look on her face and then looked straight ahead as the memory of Raul betraying her entered her head. Then Phoebe shot Matilda, Tiago, Alexandre and Estelle a look.

"Why are we talking about kissing and romance?" she muttered, "Don't you guys realise that we're close to our destination?"

"Yes," said Azul nearby, "As soon as we arrive, we'd better start thinking about looking for Susan and Lucy's cottage."

Alexandre and Estelle looked at the female Lear's macaw and male blue-throated macaw.

"Sorry, Phoebe and Azul," said Estelle, "We were only having a bit of fun."

"Yeah," said Alexandre. Tiago and Matilda just rolled their eyes. Nearby them, Io, Ganymede, Sheldon, Mimas, Titan and Brooke all released silent titters. Then seconds later, as the full cityscape of Rio became visible, Estelle, Jojo, Lavender, Sheldon, Alessandro, Neytiri and Brooke all drew in awed breaths.

"Welcome to Rio, you seven," said Titan as the group flew on.

"Woooow," gasped Neytiri as she took in the amazing sight. It truly was an awesome sight to behold for the seven newcomers and Jojo saw a grey figure on one hill overlooking the city.

"What's that thing?" he asked.

"That's the Christ the Redeemer statue," said Virgil, "It's the biblical figure of Jesus, the Saviour of mankind."

"So it's what humans call a statue?" asked Lavender. Virgil nodded.

"It's an awesome piece of art," said Jojo as he examined the Christ the Redeemer figure, "I never knew humans could make things like that."

"Oh, you'll be even more surprised at what things humans have invented," said Ganymede as he flew with Io, "Just wait until you see what they call technology."

"Technology?" repeated Sheldon in confusion.

"The Ipods of Carla, me and Justin are just one example of human technology," said Io, "But they have other devices. We'll show you when we fly to our parents' former owners' cottage."

"Oh, I look forward to meeting your old friends," said Sheldon excitedly, "And I would love to meet your dog and vegetarian cat friends."

"And also your cockatoo friends," said Jojo.

"Wait until we get to Susan and Lucy's place first," said Justin.

"Yeah, we will have a lot to think about when we arrive there," said Matilda. And with that, the group continued their flight. The small flock of birds then flew over the busy city. Below them, the usual business of Rio continued to flow. People were going to and fro from various destinations, such as work, shops and schools, and the roads were full of four-wheeled things known to the chicks who were familiar with human things as vehicles such as cars and trucks. Some people were running stands selling various things while some called out advertising shouts to sell their products.

"So this is what you lot grew up in?" asked Alessandro as he observed the activities below the group. He had never seen so many humans gathered in one place.

"Yes, Alessandro," said Miranda as she flew alongside Oberon, "But we lived mostly in the jungle next to the city."

"Uncle Blu and his family lived in a birdhouse," added Oberon, "While the rest of us lived in the jungle."

Then Neytiri wrinkled her face into a repulsive look.

"It sure is acrid here," she muttered, "It's like the smell of smoke from a fire."

"Air pollutants from human activity," said Charon, "It's not like the air above the rainforest where there are none of those pollutants."

"But it isn't half repulsive," said Neytiri with her face still twisted into one of repulsion.

"I think that's the thing with big cities like Rio or the English city of London where half of our parents grew up with Aunt Sunset, Uncle Travis and Mr Dash and Mr Veggie," said Triton, "So many pollutants due to the use of fuels for transport and heating the homes."

"Where is this 'London'?" asked Alessandro.

"It's not a city of Brazil or any other country in South America," explained Charon, "It's a city of a country across the Atlantic Ocean."

"When we get time, we'll show you some of the pictures from that city if you like?" said Blueberry, "But that's not important. What's most important is this quest. Now let's find Susan and Lucy's house."

And with that, the group flew on. As they passed by some trees, Neytiri slowed when she saw a group of colourful macaws dance in the air through some branches. It was a group of green-winged macaws, the former community in which Mars, Chiquitita, Alexandre, Phobos and Deimos had lived in before moving to the Amazon. There was only a tiny group of scarlet macaws, only two families, living in the Blu Bird Sanctuary, but that had been three if Jupiter's family had been included. As Neytiri continued gazing at the dancing mass of red feathered macaws with green and blue wings, Mimas flew in and grabbed her by the wing.

"Come on, you're lagging behind," muttered Mimas as she dragged the young glaucous macaw chick away. Neytiri pulled her gaze from the green-winged macaws and continued after the others. Then within moments, Carla's group finally reached the outskirts of Susan and Lucy's cottage, the place emerging into view.

The cottage seemed to have changed quite a lot over the past three years. Its outside was covered with fresh new paint, and there were new plants growing in the garden. On the trunk of one tree in the garden, Travis and Sunset's birdhouse was built, but it was a new one. In the garden, a group of greyhounds were playing with a toddler while a woman was pegging some washing on a clothesline. There were four greyhound puppies while the other two were adults. With the greyhounds were three cats who were sat with the two adult greyhounds looking on as the pups played ball with the toddler. The cockatoos were also present, but they were perched on a branch. There were a male sulfur-crested cockatoo, a female Major Mitchell's cockatoo and three now-grown-up sulfur-crested/Major-Mitchell's hybrids. However, the group wasn't alone. Two more cockatoos, an orange crested one and another sulfur-crested cockatoo were present as well. The cockatoos were Travis and Sunset and their offspring, Eustace, Milo and Rosa while the two others were friends of the latter three and around the same age as them. Much like their macaw friends who had not changed much over the past three years except in size, Eustace, Milo and Rosa had also not changed much though their plumages have brightened. Eustace was whiter but his wings and tail still sported the peach coloured marks. His crest feathers still had the alternating shades of yellow which had not changed much. Eustace had become close friends with a female sulfur-crested cockatoo named Serena, who was a show bird like Nigel had been but unlike Nigel, she was not arrogant and did not take her career for granted. She was while with yellow markings and crest and had a slender build and green eyes. Milo had remained a faint pink colour and the peach patches on his wings and tail had also remained unchanged. His crest was still a vibrant vermillion-and-yellow banded set of feathers similar to his mother Sunset's and the hybrid features he had inherited from both parents were more visible. Rosa was still a pink and white bird whose peach blotches on her wings and tail had gained a more pinkish tinge. Her crest was still orange and yellow and she had a pretty look. Her friend was a male citron-crested cockatoo named Clemont, and he was white but his crest was orange. His cheeks bore a faint splash of yellow-orange that were visible up close, but the undersides of Clemont's wings and tail were golden yellow coloured. His eyes were a shade of blue and he had a chubby build similar to Carla.

Travis and Sunset had not changed much in appearance though they were beginning to show signs of aging, such as a few slivers of silver in their plumage and Sunset's striking red and yellow banded crest was less vibrant than it had been when she was younger. The two had tried for a second brood but they found that they couldn't conceive or when Sunset had laid a clutch of eggs which she did once, they proved inviable. It was possible that it was because the two cockatoos were too old such that they could not have any more children. Travis and Sunset had been disappointed by the news but they had come to terms that it wasn't to be, and they had learned to be happy with the three children they already had. Travis and Sunset stood with their only three children and their two closest friends on a branch watching as the greyhounds, which were Dash, Ginger and their third litter of puppies, the second brood had all been sold, played with the toddler, which was the son of Susan and her husband named Bruno, who was from a Christian group, and the three cats, Veggie, Broccoli and Collette, two of Veggie and his deceased calico mate's offspring. The name of the toddler was Henry, a very English name whom Susan had given him when he was born and he was about a year old. He giggled excitedly as he chased after the ball with the four greyhounds, which were three sons and a daughter. Two of the sons were light grey like Dash while the third and the daughter were ginger coloured like Ginger. Inside, Bruno and Lucy were dealing with the housework and the cooking. As Henry pursued the ball with the four young pups, Veggie, Collette and Broccoli sat with Dash and Ginger. Veggie looked notably older. His brown, black and orange striped fur was strewn with silver hairs, and his eyes had small bags, while Dash and Ginger looked close to middle age. Broccoli and Collette, who were two of four kittens of Veggie and the late Catina, were now fully grown cats. Broccoli looked like an exact spitting image of his father Veggie when he was younger and even took after his vegetarian nature while Collette resembled Catina but had Veggie's stripes interspersing her calico patches. Both the brother and sister had been sterilised by the vet at Susan and Lucy's request so that the two could not have kittens, having decided against breeding any more cats. Broccoli and Veggie had been glad with the decision but Collette had been disappointed. However, she had learned to accept it.

As they watched Dash and Ginger's latest brood play with Bruno, Ginger leaned onto Dash's shoulder lovingly.

"You know something, dear? Tom, Micky, Sam and Rosie may be our last litter of puppies," said Ginger, "We might not be able to have any more."

Dash observed the four puppies as they continued playing with Henry, his head leaning on Ginger's crown. "Yeah, I agree," he said, "We are getting old."

Veggie, at this, gazed at the greyhounds with a smile.

"Despite it being three years, it sure seems like yesterday when you had your first litter of five puppies, Esperanza, Eduarda, Avellana, James and Danny," he said, "Those five, and your second litter of three puppies, are doing well with their current owners. James's club for cats and dogs, which he runs with his two friends Pelusa and Nevado is thriving well, Esperanza is expecting a litter of her own pups and Avellana has opened up an ecology school for dogs to teach them about the environment and ecology."

"Daisy and Thomas are doing well as well," said Ginger.

"It's a shame they're on the other side of the city though," said Veggie, "Too bad we cannot visit them due to their homes being so far away but I'm glad they're doing well."

Broccoli and Collette smiled at their aging father before the former's eyes travelled to the cockatoos perched on a branch watching the greyhounds, named Tom, Sam, Micky (the sons) and Rosie (the daughter) play ball with Henry. Suddenly, Collette swiped the ball back at the group after Micky sent it flying her way.

"And it's hard to believe that Travis and Sunset's three kids are now grown up," Broccoli said, looking at Eustace, Milo and Rosa who stood with Serena and Clemont. "It won't be long until they are young adults now."

"They also like their new birdhouse," said Collette, gazing at the construction nailed to the tree trunk, "I believe it's better than the previous one they had."

Dash, Ginger, Veggie and Broccoli all breathed irritated sighs.

"Especially after some of Rafael and Eva's grandkids turned the previous one into a pile of wreckage," muttered Veggie with an angry frown, "Mind you, the way those rambunctious toucan kids treated the old one was ten times worse than the berry juice graffiti Zephyr and Venus's four kids smeared on it years ago."

"How many offspring have those breeding-like-rabbit toucans had lately?" muttered Collette.

"Well over a dozen in the case of six of Rafael and Eva's grown up offspring," said Ginger, "Honestly; it's a won der the other birds of the Blu Bird Sanctuary have so much trouble from those big-beaked hoodlums."

"When Avellana came to visit us the other day," said Broccoli, "She told me that a group of those toucan kids had wreaked havoc in her ecology class tent and turned it into bombsite lookalike with hollow crates used as learning desks, books and other things inside overturned and the walls plastered with heaps and heaps of graffiti. It took two days for her and her pupils to clean up the mess."

Dash, Ginger, Collette and Veggie gazed at the like-father-like-son cat with agreeing eyes. Just then four shapes appeared in the bright blue sky, one of which was carrying something in its talons. At this, Ginger looked up and smiled.

"Oh, it's Cometa and her family," she said, "Looks like they're having a hunting session."

"Yeah, Cometa and her mate Lightning will be training their two offspring, Orion and Velocity, in catching prey such as pigeons," said Dash.

"Lightning and Cometa's two chicks will soon by young adults as well," said Veggie, "They're around eight months old and will soon be ready to leave the nest."

"Looks like the family has caught a pigeon," said Collette as she observed the four falcons then fly toward a tree and perch there to eat the catch.

"Pigeons are quite common in cities," said Dash, "But sometimes they can be a real pain, especially if there are large numbers of them. Cometa and Lightning are a part of a group that helps keep the pigeon population in control."

"I often _hate_ pigeons," muttered Broccoli in disgust, "I think they're dirty birds, often releasing their droppings that land messily on windows and surfaces."

"They can be disgusting I suppose," said Ginger who seemed to somewhat disagree with Broccoli's opinion of pigeons. Veggie, Collette and Dash just said nothing. On the branch, the group of seven cockatoos were talking though one of them, Rosa had noticed the falcon family perch in a tree just outside the garden.

"Hey, guys," she called, "Look, it's Cometa and her family."

At this, the other six followed her gaze and saw the falcons as they began to feast on the pigeon. The largest of the falcons was Cometa for females were larger than the males, and she wore a smile on her nasty looking beak, but it was not an evil smile, but a proud smile.

"I wonder what they are doing here," said Travis.

"Maybe they've come to visit us?" said Sunset, "Knowing them to be friends of ours."

"Shall I go over and greet them?" said Eustace.

"I'm not sure if Cometa would appreciate you intruding on their meal, son," said Travis uncertainly. However, Eustace had already taken off in the direction of Cometa and her family's location, Rosa, Milo and Clemont and Serena in tow. Travis shot Sunset a slightly irritated frown and sighed. In the tree, Orion and Velocity were eating the pigeon their mother Cometa had just caught. As they pulled pieces of the bird carcass with their beaks and consumed them, Cometa and her smaller mate, Lightning looked on. Unlike their parents due to their age, both Orion and Velocity had brown plumage and their underside was pale sandy brown with darker brown specks scattered throughout, indicating that these two were immature falcons, but as they reached maturity, the plumage colour will change.

"You know when they come to hunt their own food, sweetie," said Lightning proudly, "They'll soon be utilising the tremendous speeds we falcons reach during a dive."

"It took me two years to master the technique," said Cometa, looking down at her smaller mate, "That was before I was recruited into catching macaws and other birds and poaching them."

She then shook her head and breathed disgustedly at her former life. "I loathed that job, you know," she muttered, "Snatching those hapless birds just to smuggle out of Brazil to be sold as mere objects, which is what most poachers seem to view animals as rather than living things."

"Poaching is a horrible thing inside and out," said Lightning, "It's one of the factors that puts a species, especially critically endangered species, in greater danger of being pushed closer to extinction."

"Tell me about it," said Cometa in agreement. Just then, flaps from five pairs of wings attracted the falcons' attention. At this, Cometa and Lightning turned and saw Eustace, Rosa, Milo and Clemont and Serena perch on a branch next to them.

"Hi, Cometa and Lightning," said Eustace, "Not intruding, are we?"

"No, of course not," said Cometa, "We've just decided to drop by and visit you anyway."

When Serena saw the pigeon carcass get ripped apart by Orion and Velocity as they ate it, she drew back repulsed at the sight.

"I don't like seeing carcasses," she murmured.

"It is a bit gruesome to birds who primarily eat fruit and insects and nuts," said Lightning with a smile, "But in birds that eat meat, such as us falcons, it's the norm."

"What sort of animals do you eat then?" asked Clemont the citron-crested cockatoo, "I suppose it's certain birds from the Passariformes class besides Columbiformes, am I right?"

When Cometa and Lightning heard these taxonomic terms, they shot Clemont a confused look.

"He means songbirds and pigeons and doves," said Rosa with a smile, "He's a lot like Blu, Bia and Ganymede actually."

"Yeah, he loves ecology and also electronics," said Milo. The falcons tittered slightly.

"Looks like we have another scientific minded bird on the list," said Lightning.

"I remember listening to Bia as she described how we peregrine falcons are built for catching prey at high speed," said Cometa, "And honestly, she talked like a human biologist."

"She is a lot like her father," said Lightning, "Like father, light daughter, I suppose."

"Ganymede isn't too far behind though neither Jupiter nor Ruby show any strong interest in the sciences," said Cometa. Just then, Travis and Sunset appeared, displeased looks on their faces directed at the five younger cockatoos.

"Sorry, you two," muttered Travis to Cometa and Lightning, Milo, Rosa and Eustace backing away warily, "But we've come to rebuke our two sons and daughter for disobeying us."

"They may be three years old and probably close to leaving their nest but they still need to respect their elders," said Sunset.

"It's alright," said Cometa, "We weren't offended."

At this, Travis and Sunset changed their facial expressions from parental scowls. Then they gazed at Orion and Velocity as they continued eating.

"I can see that your son and daughter have grown strong and big," said Travis, "They'll soon be epic hunters when they eventually leave the nest."

"They absolutely will," said Lightning, "But it could take several years for them to master the techniques we falcons use in catching prey."

As Lightning said this, a colourful group of macaws lurked amongst some leaves, watching the falcons and cockatoos have the conversation. Carla had directed her group to here, having decided to speak to the falcons and the cockatoos first. Ganymede saw the two young falcons as they feasted on the pigeon carcass.

"Those two must be Orion and Velocity," he said in a hushed voice, "Lightning and Cometa's son and daughter."

"Wow, they certainly have grown the last time we've seen them," said Io, "When they were at their parents' nest, they were nothing more than bundles of fluffy white down with eyes and a beak."

"So, when are we going to show ourselves, Carla?" asked Justin who hid with Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender, and also Bia and Tiago.

"Well, first we must not make them jump," said Carla.

"And look at the two cockatoos accompanying Eustace, Milo and Rosa," said Bia, spotting Clemont and Serena, "They must be a citron-crested cockatoo and a pure sulfur-crested cockatoo."

"They must be two of their friends from the cockatoo club," said Tiago with a smile, "I especially like the citron-crested one."

Neytiri, Estelle, Sheldon, Brooke, Jojo and Lavender and Alessandro, who have only briefly met Eustace, Milo and Rosa several times before, all smiled.

"So those three are the hybrid cockatoos you were telling me about," said Alessandro.

"Yes," said Phoebe, "They're half sulfur-crested and half Major Mitchell's."

"That older sulfur-crested cockatoo over there," said Azul, pointing to Travis, "Is their father while the pink cockatoo named Sunset is their mother."

"Interesting," said Alessandro intrigued.

"They look like an exact mix of the two," said Sheldon, "Exactly how my plumage shows that I am half-scarlet, half-green-winged."

He loomed at the contours dividing the blue from the red on his wings and smiled at the green and yellow bands, which were mainly yellow in scarlet macaws and mostly green in green-winged macaws.

"Alright, let's reveal ourselves," said Carla, "As we have an important request to ask of them. Who would like to go first?"

At first, none of the macaws replied but then Tiago and Bia volunteered. While the macaws prepared to reveal themselves, the falcons and cockatoos continued talking.

"I'm really disappointed to hear that the Sanctuary de Amazon is in danger of losing its status as a nature reserve," said Cometa with a frown, "Tulio and his team have worked _ever_ so hard to find those Spix macaws and then the Lear's and glaucous macaws and set up their homes as a protected reserve so that poaching and logging are outlawed."

She shuddered at the memories of entering the sanctuary to poach macaws with her former group led by Lysandre years ago.

"But the debt problem is so immense," said Travis, "Even though the team has managed to find sources of income, it's still not enough to pay off the debt by the deadline which is a month away."

"This is just like what almost happened to the Blu Bird Sanctuary," muttered Sunset, "Just before Blu and his family found that colony of bats of an undiscovered species, which granted them access to funds that paid off the price to buy the land."

"I've been observing Susan, Lucy and Susan's husband Bruno worry about the crisis for a while now," said Travis, "And our furry friends, Dash, Veggie, Ginger, Broccoli and Collette are also concerned. The money Susan and Lucy had received from the selling of Dash and Ginger's second litter of puppies had mostly gone to paying off the debt."

"I'm also particularly concerned for the macaw tribes and clans and other residents on the Sanctuary de Amazon as well," said Lightning, "Based on what Blu told us, those flocks have faced frequent problems with poaching and logging before their homes were set up as reserves."

"When I heard about a clan of hyacinth macaws that had been completely decimated by loggers," said Cometa, "I was utterly horrified."

"Logging destroys the trees essential for most species of birds and other animals," said Clemont who obviously knew about ecology, "It takes away their food sources and homes."

"And occasionally causes fires," said Eustace, "The previous one almost took us by surprise and nearly killed some of us."

"I heard all about that on the news while I was at home with my falconer," said Lightning, "But I'm surprised that you cockatoos apart from Serena and Clemont have experienced that fire."

"We were there when it happened," said Rosa, "And you should have seen the devastation the fire caused after it had died down. Every bit of greenery had been burned."

"It was like a disaster zone," said Milo, "In fact, it reminded Mom and Dad and the others who had grown up in London, the UK of the Great Fire of London and what the city looked like after the fire had died down."

"Well, rainforest or human places," said Cometa, "Fire is extremely destructive if allowed to go out of control."

The other birds nodded in agreement just as Orion and Velocity had finished their pigeon. Just then a pair of Spix macaws appeared and greeted Travis and his family.

"Hi, Travis," said one, a female.

"And Sunset, Rosa, Milo and Eustace," said the other, a male. At this, Travis turned round and almost fell off the perch in shock at the unexpected appearance of Tiago and Bia. However, he recovered when he saw who they were. Cometa folded her wings and smiled amused.

"Looks like another of Tiago's pranks, I believe," she tittered. Lightning just looked at her and said nothing.

"Tiago, Bia," gasped Travis, his wing clasped onto his chest, "Boy, you made us jump."

"Sorry but we did try to avoid startling you," said Bia as the other macaws appeared. First Carla came out of the vegetation, followed by Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Jojo and Lavender, then Phoebe and Azul, Alexandre, Estelle, and Io, Europa and Sheldon, then Titan, Mimas and Brooke, Miranda, Oberon, Triton, Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri, and then Alessandro last of all. As the group of macaws appeared, the cockatoos and the falcons all opened their beaks in surprise.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Cometa, "I-I-I thought you lot usually come in the summer."

"It is a bit early for you lot, anyway," said Lightning, "Especially since you are around three years old and not yet adults."

"And Triton far from it," said Sunset, "Since hyacinth macaws reach puberty at around age six years."

"Sorry to startle you lot," said Carla, "But we have decided to come here earlier."

"Why?" asked Eustace, "Has something happened in the jungle?"

Carla shook her head. "No, it's something else," she said. But before she could explain the reason why her group was here, Eustace, Milo and Rosa went around greeting the newcomers including Alessandro. Clemont smiled as he noticed the latter.

"Wow, a chestnut-fronted macaw," he cried excitedly, "I've never seen one before."

"And that red macaw must be a cross between a scarlet and a green-winged macaw," said Serena as she examined Sheldon's wings."

"I am, yes," said Sheldon, "My mother's a green-winged and my father's a scarlet."

"I presume you must be Eustace, Milo and Rosa's friends, am I right?" asked Estelle whop stood with Alexandre."

"We are, yes," said Serena, "I'm Serena and this is Clemont."

The female sulfur-crested and male citron-crested cockatoos shook wings with Sheldon, Alessandro and Estelle while Eustace, Milo and Rosa hugged the others. Then Bia saw Orion and Velocity.

"And I can see your two chicks have grown," she said to Cometa and Lightning.

"Yeah, they're eight months old now," said Lightning, his proud smile beaming at his son and daughter.

"We've just fed them a pigeon," said Cometa, "We're out showing them how to hunt."

Bia smiled as Tiago, Justin, Matilda and Virgil came in. Jojo and Lavender, however, hid behind Mimas, Titan, Brooke, Oberon and Miranda, fearful at the nasty looking talons and beaks arming the falcons' heads and feet, their head feathers spiked out somewhat.

"Don't worry, you two," said Mimas with a smile, "These four falcons are macaw friendly."

"They mostly hunt songbirds and pigeons," said Titan, "They wouldn't want to hunt macaws due to their size."

"We have no intentions of hunting macaws anyway," said Cometa. At this, Jojo and Lavender warily crept out from behind the blue-and-gold and great green macaws and slowly walked towards the falcons.

"Those two must be very shy, aren't they, Mom and Dad?" squeaked Velocity.

"It's probably because they have never seen falcons before," said Lightning. Then Cometa looked at Lavender and Jojo and said, "And I assume these two are Roberto's son and daughter, am I right?"

"That one," said Lightning, nodding to Jojo, "Looks a lot like Roberto."

"He is the son of Roberto and Brisa," said Miranda, "And Lavender's their daughter. They have another brother as well named Felix but he's back home."

"Back home?" repeated Cometa confused.

"He decided that he wasn't ready to come to Rio yet," said Miranda, "But maybe in time you'll meet him."

"I see," said Cometa. She then noticed Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri and Triton.

"And I believe the glaucous macaw with the human-like braid crest is one of your friends," she said. Neytiri just stood there, too shy to reply.

"Yes, this is Neytiri," said Charon, "She's one of our friends from the glaucous macaw tribe."

Cometa smiled as Neytiri shyly raised a wing in a greeting. Just then, a shout sounded from below the tree.

"Is that Carla, Bia and Tiago? What are they doing here?"

Broccoli's voice. at this, Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others all looked down and saw Broccoli, Collette, Dash, Ginger and Veggie look up at them with smiles on their faces. At this, the birds all took off from the branch and fluttered down before the five mammals. Jojo and Lavender landed with Justin, Matilda and Virgil.

"So those are your mammal friends?" asked Jojo as he looked at the two greyhounds and three cats, "How interesting."

"Yes," said Travis, "Carla and some of her friends have come to visit us."

"Really?" said Veggie, "It's a bit early."

"I know," said Carla, "But we have an important reason why we're here but let's first introduce some new friends and relatives of ours."

She then nodded to Tiago who then introduced Sheldon, Estelle, Brooke, Neytiri, Alessandro, Jojo and Lavender. When Ginger saw Jojo and Lavender, she smiled while Collette, Veggie, Dash and Broccoli greeted the seven.

"These are two of Aunt Brisa and Uncle Beto's offspring named Jojo and Lavender," explained Tiago, gesturing to Jojo and Lavender, "The other one is called Felix but he's not here."

"Wow, so Roberto has finally had some chicks?" said Ginger with a wide smile, "I'm so glad for him."

"So you're the dog friend of Dad who helped him escape that abusive owner he had when he was younger?" asked Jojo. Ginger nodded.

"That's true," she said, "It was a terrible time he went through. In fact, he suffered more than me."

"It's a good thing you managed to help him escape," said Lavender, "When Dad told us what he went through as a young macaw at the hands of this human girl, we were horrified."

"It never does an animal good when they're at the mercy of a cruel human, especially an owner." said Ginger with a firm frown, "It destroys them. Io and Ganymede's mother Ruby also suffered at the hands of a cruel human as well."

"Did she?" asked Serena and Clemont together. Rosa turned to them.

"She used to be a performer and once starred in a film," she said, "But she was mistreated as she was disobedient since she hated the role."

"It's not for every bird or animal, I suppose," said Serena. Suddenly Dash whipped round and shouted to one of the puppies.

"Rosie, can you release that T-shirt please? That is Bruno's best one." he commanded. At this, the others turned and saw one of the puppies, Rosie, the female ginger one, shoot her father a look while her teeth was sunk into a piece of clothing Carla and the others assumed was a T-shirt. When she saw the hard gaze on Dash's face, Rosie released the T-shirt and ran off. Dash rolled his eyes.

"Our four new pups can be a little rambunctious at times," he said, "Once, they ripped apart Lucy's fleece and believe me, she wasn't very pleased."

"So you have had a new litter of pups?" said Carla.

"Yes," said Ginger, "They're three boys and a girl. The boys are called Tom, Sam and Micky and our daughter whom you saw pulling at the T-shirt is our daughter Rosie."

"They're our third litter," said Dash. Then Justin, Matilda and Virgil smiled.

"They're not as mischievous as most of those toucans, are they?" asked Justin.

"Thankfully, they are not," said Ginger, "But we did have a few incidences at the clutches of those big-nosed hoodlums several times."

"Did you?" asked Matilda. Travis then nodded to his family's new birdhouse.

"One incident was a group of them had destroyed our old birdhouse two years ago," he said, "I believe they were the offspring of Rita, Sofia, Marco and their mates (Rita, Sofia and Marco are three of the many offspring of Rafael and Eva), but they were outright naughty."

"Yes," said Eustace sourly, "Those menaces and minxes graffiti-ed all over our birdhouse, tore it apart and literally smashed it to pieces."

"It was an utter mess, honestly," said Sunset, "We were on an outing when it happened when James had rushed off to fetch us."

"And when we returned," added Milo, "Our old birdhouse was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Thankfully, Bruno, Susan's husband and Fernando, the adopted son of Tulio and Linda, have managed to construct the replacement that you now see."

At this, Carla, Bia and Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender all looked up and saw the new birdhouse. Io, Ganymede, Alexandre, Sheldon and Estelle also saw the birdhouse.

"I see," said Alexandre, "I wondered why it looked different when we first saw it."

"Have you had any more incidences from those pesky toucan kids?" asked Io.

"Not anymore," said Rosa, "But some of the other avian residents and some mammals also faced trouble from those pesky toucans."

"Clemont, Serena and even Cometa and her family have faced some of the trouble from those toucans as well," said Milo, nodding to the citron-crested cockatoo, sulfur-crested cockatoo and the four falcons.

"Did you?" asked Ganymede.

"Yes," said Clemont angrily, "They tore out some of my head feathers and made me look like I had gone mad with berry juice after they pelted me with acai berries; Serena here was used for target practice for flying seeds…"

Serena rolled her eyes as she remembered that.

"And the peregrine falcon family faced some real pelting with fruit as well, didn't you?" said Clemont. Cometa nodded.

"Not only that, some also pulled Orion's feathers out and scared Velocity with scarily carved wood-masks after tying her up with vines," she said. Her son and daughter said nothing.

"Those hoodlums think what they do is funny," said Lightning, "But it is absolutely not. Time and time again we have told their parents to discipline those kids of theirs, but after so many months, they hadn't bothered."

"But a few of them are well-behaved though," said Cometa, "One of Rita's daughters saw what her siblings were doing to Orion and Velocity and managed to fetch us, Rafael and Eva to the scene but by the time we had arrived, her siblings had scattered."

"Excuse us, just a minute would you," said Dash as he and Ginger left to keep an eye on Tom, Micky, Sam and Rosie, the four puppies, leaving the others to talk.

"Oh, so you lot have had a hard time with those toucan kids," said Carla. Cometa nodded a disgusted frown on her face, as did the cockatoos, Veggie, Collette and Broccoli. Then Travis moved on.

"So, why are you lot here?" he asked.

"Ah, we were about to come to that most important part," said Carla, "You see, we have come with a request."

"Request?" repeated Veggie, "What request?"

"Well you see," said Carla. She then stole a glance from her companions and they nodded.

"We want to go to Guyana," said Carla. At this, the faces on the cats, falcons and cockatoos all morphed into shocked looks.

"You want to go to Guyana?" asked Veggie in surprise.

"Why do you want to go to Guyana for?" asked Cometa.

"Is this some sort of holiday?" asked Travis.

"Also, do your parents know that you want to go to that country?" asked Sunset. Then Bia came forward.

"Um, let's not worry about that for the moment," she said, "You see, we are on a quest to a mythical place."

"Mythical place?" repeated the falcons, cockatoos and cats together.

"What mythical place?" asked Sunset. Rosa, Milo, Eustace, Clemont and Serena all exchanged confused glances with Orion and Velocity. At this, Bia nodded to Triton.

"I'll let you explain this, Triton," she said gently, "Since you know the reason more thoroughly than the rest of us."

Triton nodded and stepped forward to explain the story of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure story to the cats, falcons and cockatoos.

"It's an old story told by my clan the Navyfeathers," he said, "It might take some time to explain it as there are two versions to the story but both have the same start and finish. Okay, here we go…"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- gathering supplies and off to the airport**

After Triton had finished explain the legend of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure, the surprised looks on the faces of Travis, Cometa, Veggie and the others intensified.

"Well, that certainly is a strange story," said Cometa, "I have never heard of anything like it."

"Sounds like a cross between _Jurassic Park_ and an _Indiana Jones_ movie," said Lightning.

"What's Jurassic what's it?" asked Estelle.

"It's a movie about dinosaurs," said Ganymede, "Or those giant reptiles. It-it-it's complicated."

Estelle stared back at him.

"So, you're saying that some of these bizarre birds are living in an isolated place in the Guyanese rainforest where a large natural deposit of treasure is believed to be located?" asked Travis.

"Yes," said Triton.

"That is why we're going to Guyana," said Carla.

"We're hoping that the treasure, if and when we find it, might be the possible solution to the debt problem," said Bia. She then became confused when Travis looked this way and that, a disbelieving look on his face.

"That sounds ridiculous," he said, gazing at the macaws, "A hidden deposit of treasure in an isolated place based on some story? How can anyone believe that?"

"Especially if it sounds fictional," said Veggie.

"Do your parents know about your absence?" asked Sunset again.

"They know we've gone to Rio but they don't know that we're going to Guyana," said Carla.

"Well, that's pretty foolish," said Lightning sternly, "Telling your parents a half-truth like that. What if you run into danger over in that country?"

"You could run into all kinds of things," said Orion.

"Not to mention poachers," said Milo, his eyes especially fixed on Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri. "Especially what almost happened to Flor during your family's last trip to here with Neptune's family."

"We're aware of the risks," said Charon, "But this is important."

"Actually, some of us have stayed behind at home to tell our parents that we've gone to Rio," said Justin, "That is the reason why Charlotte, who usually comes with us, is absent."

"As are Phobos and Deimos," said Phoebe, looking at Alexandre and Estelle, "And my sisters Jasmine and Annette, Azul's brothers Wilbur and Aurelio, and Europa and Callisto and the rest."

"The reason is our parents had dismissed the story as mere nonsense and non-existent stuff," said Azul, nervous that the falcons, cockatoos and cats might also dismiss the story as myth, "And they wouldn't let us go on the quest. That is why we are here with the rest of us back home."

"Now that we're here," said Carla, "The next step is gathering supplies. We need fruit, fanny packs or bum bags, a map or an atlas and a compass."

"Can you help us get those things?" asked Tiago. The others looked on pleadingly, hoping that their city friends will agree. Veggie, at this, frowned at the group.

"But we have our responsibilities; you lot," he said, "Dash and Ginger need to keep an eye on their four new puppies and we also need to keep watch over Henry, the son of Bruno and Susan."

He stole a glance at the toddler as Susan picked him up.

"Also, Cometa and Lightning are too busy with raising Orion and Velocity," continued the aging tabby cat, "And Travis and his family have other activities to do. We don't have time to help you gather the things for some quest to some place that might not exist…"

"But we have to, Veggie," pleaded Carla, "This is super important."

"If we don't find the treasure," said Tiago, "Our home will lose its status as a protected reserve."

At this, Broccoli and Collette looked at their father and the cockatoos and falcons.

"Shall we help them, Dad?" asked Broccoli.

"I know of a place where some fanny packs and fruit are sold," said Collette. Veggie, Travis, Sunset, Cometa and Lightning looked back at the two cats with frowns on their faces while Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena, and Orion and Velocity said nothing. At first there was silence but then Veggie broke it after a while.

"Alright then," he said reluctantly, "But Broccoli and Collette will have to go with you. The rest of us are too busy."

The macaws all smiled but those smiles disappeared when they saw the stern frown on Veggie's face.

"But I want you lot to know," he growled slightly, "This is going against your parents' approval."

"We're aware of the trouble we're in Veggie, thanks," said Carla. Then Broccoli and Collette stepped forward.

"Right, are we ready to go," said Broccoli. The macaws nodded.

"Okay then. Then let's go to the set of stands where they sell fanny packs and fruit," said Collette. Then with a cheer, the two cats and the macaws left, leaving only Travis, Sunset, Cometa, Veggie, Lightning and the young cockatoos and falcons gazing after them.

"I honestly don't like this, folks," murmured Veggie with a frown, "I don't think Carla and her group know what they're about to put themselves through."

"The rainforests of Guyana are outside any protected reserve, after all," said Travis, "And since Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda and Virgil, together with the two offspring of a macaw friend of their parents are Spix macaws, and Charon and Blueberry and their new friend are glaucous and Phoebe a Lear's, all rare species of birds, if any poachers spot them, they're gonna be in trouble."

"Well, I sure hope they are aware of that," said Sunset. She then looked at Eustace, Rosa, Milo and Clemont and Serena. "Okay, you five, it's time for an outing."

At this, the five cockatoos all cheered and left to get ready. However, one of the cockatoos, Milo, gazed after the macaws as they disappeared down the street with Broccoli and Collette. Cometa then turned to Travis, Sunset and Veggie and said, "And we're off back to our home. It's nice to meet you lot again and we'll see you guys soon."

And with that, she, Lightning, Orion and Velocity all opened their wings and took off.

"Okay, see you," said Sunset. Then turning to Veggie and Travis, she smiled and the three walked away towards the house. As Cometa's family flew over the houses, Velocity looked down at the splashes of colour of the macaws and smiled.

 **Later**

Collette, Broccoli and Carla's group stood hidden among some crates out of the sight of passing humans and examining the stands. Most of the stands sold fruit but a few sold other items such as books and bags as well.

"Well, here we are," said Broccoli, "We're at the very place where you can get your supplies. However, I cannot see any stores that do fanny packs…"

As he said this, Bia's gaze crept over the stands until her eyes landed on the bag store. When she saw the familiar bags with belts hanging from the wall of the store like the ones her dad Blu wore during their first trip into the Amazon, as well as a pile of bags behind it, she alerted the others.

"I think I can see some over there, Broc," Bia said. At this, Broccoli, Collette, Carla, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil and the rest all followed her gaze and saw what she saw.

"That bag stand, brilliant," said Broccoli with a smile, "Good spot, Bia."

"You certainly have eyes like a falcon," said Collette. Bia smiled at the complement. Then Broccoli and Collette led the macaws to the bag store. As the group of birds and two cats arrived at the store and hid amongst more crates, Alessandro peered around the wall.

"So that's what you guys called a bum bag or whatever it is?" he asked.

"Yes," said Justin, "It's what humans wear around their waist. It's also called a fanny pack in the Americas. Bum bag is a term often used by the European countries."

"So how are we going to get those fanny packs?" asked Matilda. As she said this, Io, Ganymede, Alexandre, Titan and Mimas began to examine the pile of bags at the back.

"We could do with one big bag as well," said Virgil, pondering.

"But those bags might be too heavy to carry," protested Carla, "A fanny pack each is an excellent idea."

"But we might want to take at least one larger bag to carry back more treasure," said Virgil.

"Please, one thing at a time," said Collette, "We don't have much time standing around here, you know."

"True, if any of those humans spot us, they'll drive us away," said Broccoli, "Now let's start thinking how we could snaffle some of those fanny packs."

"Guys," called Titan's voice. at this, Broccoli, Collette and the others all turned their heads and saw Titan, Mimas, Ganymede, Io and Alexandre hold up a couple of fanny packs from a pile of bags at the back.

"Oh, well done, Titan," said Carla, "You've saved us plenty of hassle of trying to snatch some fanny packs straight from the store."

And with that, the group all crowded around Titan and Mimas and the two began to distribute a fanny pack each to the macaws. Since there were 25 birds 25 fanny packs were needed, one for each bird. As Titan and Mimas, with Ganymede, Io and Alexandre, and Broccoli and Collette's help continued distributing the fanny packs to each macaw, Brooke frowned at the human object as she handled it.

"I've never worn one of these things before," she muttered, "We never use human things in our tribes."

As soon as 25 fanny packs and two larger bags that were small enough to be carried by the macaws for the trip, Broccoli and Collette turned their attention to the fruit stands. This was going to be the most difficult bit for there were plenty of humans around. As the group gazed at the fruit stands, Broccoli called Bia's attention.

"I have something for you," he said as Bia came over. The moment the second chick of Blu and Jewel was before him, Broccoli produced a drawing book and a set of pencils.

"My other drawing book full of scientific drawings of bugs, flowers and other things," murmured Bia as she took it and the pencils from Broccoli's paw.

"I found this set at our house, in our attic," said Broccoli, "You must have forgotten to pick it up when you spent the night in our attic so I saved it for you."

"Thanks, Broc," said Bia, Broccoli smiling and nodding in approval. Bia then went to pack her book and pencils into her fanny pack but before she inserted her precious items into it, she stopped and gazed at the cover of her book on which she wrote, 'scientific drawings'. A look of sadness crossed her face as she stared at it. However, she did not see Virgil notice. Then Bia put her book and pencils into the fanny pack when she noticed Virgil gazing at her.

"Are you alright, Bia?" asked Virgil.

"Yes," said Bia, trying to cover up her problem and putting the fanny pack on, "Let's just focus on getting the fruit next."

Virgil sighed and prepared for the next step. The cats and macaws then crept over to the fruit stores and hid amongst some more crates. As the group looked out, Charon saw some baskets full of fruit to be placed onto the stands.

"I think we'll take some fruit from those baskets," he said, "It'll be easier than trying to take the fruit on display from the actual stands."

"Hmm, there are quite a few of those stand owners standing around," said Broccoli uncertainly, "If we get spotted, even once, that's it."

"I think it's best if only a few of us go to those baskets to snatch the fruit," suggested Tiago, "You know me, I'm quite stealthy."

Broccoli and Collette, however, still looked uncertain but they relented.

"Alright, but be careful," growled Broccoli firmly. Tiago nodded in thanks and then selected some helpers. They were Matilda, Miranda, Oberon and Phoebe, though the latter looked reluctant. Collette then made the decision to go along to help. As soon as the team had been set up, Tiago and the other five prepared to sneak towards the fruit baskets sitting by the fruit stands. With Broccoli, Carla, Bia, Justin, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender and the others in their main hiding spot, the caliby, the two Spix macaws, two great green macaws and Lear's macaw quickly crept over to the baskets of fruit, being careful not to get spotted by the fruit stand owners. As soon as they were near the fruit baskets and after making sure that the stand owners weren't looking, Tiago, Phoebe, Collette, Matilda, Miranda and Oberon proceeded to start snaffling the fruit from the baskets.

"Let's make this quick, you lot," whispered Collette and with that, the five picked up the first few fruit, which were fresh guavas, a pineapple and some apples and quickly passed it over to the rest. Bia, Carla, Justin, Virgil, Io and Ganymede, who had opted to be the receivers, took the fruit and quickly stuffed them into their fanny packs and one of the bags. Also, Io and Ganymede passed the fruit to the others and they placed them into their fanny packs and the other bag as well. Neytiri, Estelle, Sheldon, Alessandro, Brooke, Jojo and Lavender wore wary looks on their faces for they seemed quite uncomfortable with using a human object but Carla had insisted to them that they were the best items for carrying heavy things such as the treasure. At the same time, Tiago, Matilda, Oberon, Phoebe and Miranda also stuffed some fruit into their fanny packs. As the five macaws and Collette picked up the next load of fruit, Oberon saw one of the stand owners head in their direction.

"Get down," he said to the others, and the six immediately ducked for cover amongst some nearby crates as the person, a man, approached where the group was and stooped down to pick up a basket of fruit. However, he did not notice that some of the baskets were missing their contents. Then after he had left with one of the fuller baskets towards the fruit stand, Tiago and his group emerged from their hiding place and quickly resumed snaffling more fruit. However, they had accelerated the process for they knew that they did not have any time for any delays. After he had completely filled his fanny pack and while the others continued stuffing theirs and the two bags with more fruit Azul left to look for the other two items the group will need for the trip.

"I'll look for an atlas and a compass," he said as he left. Broccoli nodded and continued helping the other macaws fill their fanny packs with more fruit. Azul's fanny pack had reached its capacity and the pouch was bulging with fruit. It had put on weight but Azul was used to carrying quite heavy loads for he had often helped his parents bring back a lot of fruit in fruit bags back home. Azul then fluttered off and scanned the other stands, those that sold second-hand items such as books, for any compasses and atlases. As soon as Azul's eyes landed on something that resembled a compass on the lower shelf of one of the stands, he fluttered over to it. Making sure that the stall owner did not notice his presence; Azul quickly grabbed the circular disc of metal on a chain and quickly flew into hiding. As soon as he was hidden, Azul held the device in his talon and looked at its face. However, to his disappointment, the face did not have N, S, E and W and the intermediate directions listed around its edge like in a compass, but numbers one to twelve with two sticks, one long and the other short, stretching out from the centre instead of one arrow-shaped stick as Azul would also expect to find in a compass. Due to him being familiar with human things, he recognised what he had snaffled.

"It's a pocket watch," he murmured, "I can't believe these things look so much like a compass from a distance."

Quickly returning the pocket watch to its place, Azul flew off to search elsewhere. While Azul continued looking search a compass and an atlas of the countries of South America, Broccoli, Collette and the other macaws continued taking more and more fruit. Their fanny packs were now reaching full capacity and the two bags were also almost full. However, the group was about to face some serious shock. The two cats and 24 macaws hid as two humans came by. Their nerves were sparking for they sensed the worst.

"Do you think one of those humans has spotted us yet?" asked Carla, her body feeling like jelly as she peered out from a crate.

"No, but we'd better get out of here as soon as possible," murmured Broccoli next to her. Then the group resumed stuffing the fruit into the two bags. The group continued loading the bags, which were almost full when suddenly, the expectation of the worst fired into reality.

"HEY!" shouted a human voice. At this, Broccoli snapped his head round and to his horror, he saw one of the stand owners dash towards Collette, Tiago, Miranda, Oberon, Matilda and Phoebe who each had a fruit. When the five saw that they had been spotted, the two great green macaws, two Spix macaws, the caliby and Lear's macaw immediately made a break for it towards the other macaws and Broccoli as the stand owner shouted and cursed at them in Spanish, his arms waving at them as he chased them. Broccoli then immediately shot the other macaws an alarmed glare as the commotion attracted the attention of the other humans.

"LET'S MAKE A DASH FOR IT!" the tabby cat bellowed and with that the other macaws with their fanny packs and two bags full of fruit, lofted into flight while Broccoli and Collette charged like rodents escaping a predator as the stand owner rushed towards them, shouting at them, "Get out, you thieving animals, go on, scram!" in Spanish. As the group rocketed off with the stand owner and some other humans with Io, Ganymede, Titan, Mimas and Charon carrying the two fruit loaded bags, Virgil shouted, "Where's Azul!"

"There he is," said Jojo, a talon pointing. The other macaws followed his gaze and to their horror, they saw the male blue-throated macaw, a look of terror on his face, flap like mad away from a pursuing female stand owner who was armed with a stick of newspaper. He carried something in his talons which were a silvery circle with a chain and a booklet which Bia identified as an atlas of the countries of South America. As soon as Azul saw the other macaws take to the skies, he immediately made a hasty beeline for them despite the weight of the fruit-stuffed fanny pack around his waist, narrowly escaping being swiped by the newspaper. As Azul caught up with the other macaws, he showed them the two other items in his talons.

"Guys, I've found a compass and an atlas!" shouted Azul.

"Well done, Azul," called Carla, "Let's just get out of here."

And with that, the macaws continued rocketing into the air until they were finally out of the range of the marketplace. However, they continued flying and flying, puffing and panting due to the weight of the fanny packs and two bags and their contents until they found a place to hide. As soon as they had found that spot in the alleyway, Carla and the others hunkered to the ground, puffing and panting still.

"Where are… Broccoli and… Collette?" asked Bia between pants. The others looked out and saw no sign of the two cats.

"Don't tell me they've been caught," muttered Matilda worriedly.

"If they've been caught then they're in utter trouble," said Alexandre. Jojo then slumped down against the wall.

"I am NOT going to go through all that again," he muttered, "I thought we were gonna get caught."

"You got that right," muttered Alessandro, "But at least we've got enough fruit. I just hope we have enough to last us throughout the trip."

As he said this, Azul flicked through the atlas and to his joy, it had the map of Guyana in it.

"Wait, here they come," said Io's voice, snapping Azul out of his focus on the map. Down the street leading to the alley's entrance, a tabby and a caliby appeared. Their fur was puffed out and their faces were laced with terror and fright, and the two were puffing and panting. As Broccoli and Collette arrived, the two darted into the alleyway and sat down to rest from the mad dash they had to make to escape the stall owners. After he had got his breath back, Broccoli shot the macaws a glare.

"We're definitely NOT going to do that again," he muttered.

"We could have been hurt or caught," said Collette, "I just hope this will be the only time we will have to go through that chaos."

Carla, Bia and Tiago all nodded in agreement before taking a moment to rest. As soon as they all had got their breath back, Carla looked at Broccoli and Collette.

"Now that we've got everything that we need thanks to your help," she said, "Now all we need to do is sneak aboard that plane going to Guyana."

"Tulio's planning on going to the airport from his Aviary today," said Broccoli, "Apparently someone in Guyana has a Lear's macaw in his ownership and Tulio is going to fly there to have that bird brought back here so that it can be released into the Blu Bird Sanctuary. However, due to the debt crisis, he had been distracted from that little trip."

At this, all the macaws popped to attention.

"When is he leaving?" asked Bia.

"Well I don't know," said Collette, "But if you want to catch him, we must make our way down to Tulio's Aviary right away or the opportunity will be missed."

"No, we'll take it from here as we know where it is," said Carla, but then she looked at Alessandro, Jojo, Lavender, Estelle, Sheldon, Brooke and Neytiri, "Apart from these seven of course. We'll fly there."

"Okay, but make sure to stay out of those humans' sight," said Broccoli firmly, "We got lucky last time but the next time you get caught, you won't be so fortunate."

"Yes, be ESPECIALLY careful while you're in Guyana," put in Collette. Her eyes then travelled to Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri. "You lot will be far away from any protected reserve in a wide area where poachers will be prowling around and if they spot any of you, particularly you rare macaws," she nodded to the three glaucous macaws and to Carla, Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Justin, Matilda, Jojo and Lavender and to Phoebe, "they will not hesitate to catch you and make money out of you."

Collette then stood back with her eyes still fixed on Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri, the latter who shifted with some discomfort, unsettled somewhat by the caliby's rather piercing hazel eyes. However, Collette's look was serious and not predatory for it was not in her nature to catch and eat birds.

"In fact, looking at you three standing here in Rio," said Collette to the glaucous macaws, "Far away from your flock is enough to make me shudder and remember what had almost happened to your younger sister Flor last year when she was caught in a trap. And since you are far away from your parents, going to Guyana outside your parents' knowledge, and will be flying through unprotected territory," Collette hardened her gaze, "You three might not be so lucky if you ever get caught in a smuggler's trap again."

"Neytiri's not a relative of us," said Charon. Collette's eyes then travelled to the other macaws, "In fact, none of you will," said Collette sternly, "So if you're going to fly around in such an area as that Guyanese rainforest, make sure to look out for each other."

"And keep each other safe," put in Broccoli, "And also, look out for predatory animals like the harpy eagle! The last thing your parents want is you lot returning with some of you missing and if that happens…"

Broccoli trailed off and simply finished his sentence with a serious glare which Carla and her group understood.

"We will be careful, Broc and Collette," said Carla, "And I'd like to thank you both for your help."

The other macaws nodded in agreement.

"We have a saying amongst our tribes, clans and other avian residents' friends, anyway," said Bia, "It was coined by Dad."

""Yes," said Justin, "Birds of blue, red, green, yellow, orange, turquoise, grey and navy blue feathers…"

"Have to stick together," said the others in unison. Broccoli and Collette smiled.

"Then make sure you keep that in mind on your quest, you lot," said Broccoli, "It's a good quote to remember."

Then Collette hugged some of the macaws including Carla, Bia and Tiago. The seven newcomers, however, backed away for they were not comfortable with cats hugging them.

"Okay, off you go," said Collette as she hugged the macaws, "Like I've said before, look out for each other, keep each other safe."

"And I hope you find what you are looking for," said Broccoli as he also hugged Ganymede, Io, Alexandre, Mimas and Triton, Brooke, Estelle and Sheldon looking on. After he broke the hug with the group and Collette released Carla, Bia, Tiago and some of the other macaws, Carla stood with the others and nodded to them while Azul packed the atlas and compass into one of the bags. After this, the 25 macaws all opened their wings and took off in the direction of Tulio's Aviary, taking their bags and fanny packs with them.

"We'll bring you back something from Guyana when we return," shouted Triton as the group left.

"Just make sure to be aware of all the hazards while you're there," shouted Broccoli as the birds faded from view.

"And also, I hope you save the Sanctuary de Amazon from losing its status as a nature reserve," put in Collette. However, the birds were out of earshot. After this, the brother and sister cats looked at each other and prepared to go home.

"I sure hope they find that mythical place," said Collette with a hopeful smile. Broccoli, however, looked uncertain.

"I don't know," he said, "But I have big concerns for their parents not knowing where they are going. If they find out that Carla's group has gone to Guyana, there's going to be serious trouble for them and for their friends back in the Amazon."

Collette sighed and left with Broccoli for Susan and Lucy's cottage.

A little while later, Carla and her group had arrived at Tulio's Aviary and sure enough, they saw a truck and Tulio preparing to climb into its driving seat.

"Looks like we're just in time," said Justin when he saw this, "Let's hop aboard before he sets off."

"So that's the place where your mother and father met?" Neytiri asked Carla, Bia and Tiago.

"Yes, and also where Aunt Venus met Uncle Zephyr," said Carla, "But we don't have time for our parents' stories. We need to catch that truck."

Neytiri, at this, gazed at the building that was Tulio's Aviary. She was tempted to go and investigate but was prevented by Charon and Blueberry.

"Stay focussed on the trip, Neytiri," said Charon firmly, "We don't want any of us getting separated."

"Yes, especially when we are in Guyana," said Blueberry. Neytiri sighed and put off the idea of exploring Tulio's Aviary. Triton looked worriedly at Azul and Phoebe. Despite being no more than an equivalent to a young human child while the rest were bordering adolescence, Triton did have some good sense.

"I'm pretty concerned about Neytiri, you two," said Triton, "She seems to be highly inquisitive and I have a feeling that it might lead her into trouble. Should we keep a close eye on her?"

Phoebe looked at Neytiri as she kept flashing glances at Tulio's Aviary as the group approached the truck. Carla then led the group to a spot where they could sneak aboard the vehicle's trailer. As the group landed behind some parked cars in the carpark, Carla and Ganymede looked out. The other macaws hid behind the two macaws at the front. Phoebe continued watching Neytiri as she gazed curiously at the aviary while Triton began to have flashbacks of Flor when she was caught in the trap set up by smugglers. Flor had got distracted by a passing insect and had gone after it while she, her older sister Blueberry, two brothers Charon and Quincy and parents Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, together with Neptune, Ultramarine, Triton and Indigo rested during their trip to Rio last year, and that was how she ended up getting caught in a smuggler's trap. If Flor's occasional proneness to distractions such as a passing bug was enough to separate her from the group and lead her into trouble, how worse would it be for Neytiri was intensively inquisitive, especially by fascinating things? While Triton thought about these things, Carla's shout snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Go," called Carla and with that, 25 streaks exploded from the gap between the two cars and made a beeline for the truck. As soon as they were near the trailer, the group scattered themselves and the two bags among the crates. The last ones to make it were Phoebe, Azul and Alessandro and they hid themselves among one of the crates moments before an assistant of Tulio turned up. Titan, Mimas, Io, Jojo and Alexandre who had carried the two fruit loaded bags had managed to hide them both in time as well.

"Phew, just made it," said Alessandro as he slumped with his back against the crate. He looked down at the fruit-filled fanny pack around his waist and sighed. The macaws remained hidden as the assistant checked the trailer one last time. After this, she said, "Alright, Tulio, we're good to go."

"Alright, everyone, let's do a headcount," said Carla and with that, she went round counting the macaws to make sure all were present. To her joy, all 25 including herself were present and correct. Then next, the macaws heard the truck start up and then felt it begin to move. Jojo and Lavender almost lost their balance as the truck lurched forward.

"Here we go," said Justin, "The airport."

"What's an airport?" asked Neytiri curiously.

"It's a place where humans fly from and land in a place in things called planes," said Triton.

"You'll see what one looks like when we arrive," said Azul. His gaze then turned hard. "But you MUST stay by our sides at ALL TIMES! We don't want anyone wandering off and getting separated from the group. Is that clear?"

Neytiri, at this, nodded, much to Azul's satisfaction.

"As soon as we arrive at the airport, we must leave this truck and follow Tulio to the plane he is going to catch," said Carla, "Bia and Ganymede will help us with finding the right plane he is boarding."

At this, the group looked at the male scarlet macaw and female Spix macaw. Of the group, Bia and Ganymede were the most intelligent and were not only fond of science and astronomy and maths, but also of complex words and even vehicle timetables such as buses, trains and planes, so they will be the guides through the next step which will involve finding the right plane to board. Then Tulio and an assistant, who had decided to come with him to help get the Lear's macaw, drove the truck, unaware that they had 25 feathered stowaways in the trailer of the vehicle, off in the direction of Rio's airport.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- boarding the plane and off to Guyana**

Tulio and his assistant finally arrived at the airport, which was named Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport. Planes were flying in from and taking off to other destinations overseas and it was where Linda and Blu had touched down after flying in from Minnesota in the United States, and also where Susan, Lucy and their cousins Blake, Drake and Jake flew in with their pets including Venus, Mercury and Pluto from London months and months later. As soon as Tulio and his assistant had parked the truck in the carpark, Carla and her group immediately took off from the trailer, carrying their fanny packs and two bags with them and hurried off for the cover of the parked cars. Galeão certainly was busy and there were swarms of people walking in like floodwater into the 'Departures' section of the airport while more people emerged from the 'Arrivals' section. Carla, Bia and Tiago looked around while Justin, Matilda and Virgil kept a close eye on Tulio and his assistant as they unloaded the truck of their luggage. Some of the macaws, especially Neytiri and Alessandro, were amazed by the place and the flying things that took off and landed.

"So this is an 'airport'?" asked Neytiri fascinated.

"Yes," said Charon, his from eyes on the young female glaucous macaw, "And those things flying above us are called planes."

"I never thought that humans could build something that could fly," said Alessandro. He flinched as a plane flew overhead.

"Oh, there are other flying things humans have built besides the plane," said Azul, "There are helicopters, biplanes…"

"'Helicopter'?" repeated Jojo as he hid with Lavender, Phoebe, Titan, Mimas and Brooke, "Are those flying things with the spinning things on the tops?"

"Yes," said Titan, "But let's focus on getting aboard the plane our human friend is going to board."

"You're sometimes bossy you know, Titan," said Brooke in irritation. Titan didn't reply and continued looking over the others to make sure that all were present. Io, Ganymede, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon were examining the surroundings.

"We are going to need a way to get through the airport," said Io as she looked around. "Do you guys have any ideas?"

"Hey," said Alexandre, "What about those plastic pet cages?"

He indicated to a stack of plastic boxes in one corner by the entrance. They were the same sort of boxes used to carry small pets like cats and rabbits. Sheldon and Estelle looked at them.

"Right, but we cannot use just one of those due to so many of us and the baggage we have," said Estelle, gazing at the two fruit-filled bags.

"We could perhaps split into groups," said Ganymede, "And use more than one of those cages."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Io. She then turned to Carla to suggest this idea when Carla said, "Tulio and the other person are heading for the entrance."

At this, the other birds looked at the two people and saw that they were walking towards the doors. Io then tapped a talon on Carla's shoulder and pointed to the stack of cages. Carla, at this, smiled at the plastic boxes.

A little while later, Carla's group were in the plastic cages. They had gone along with Ganymede's suggesting at splitting into groups and using more than one cage. In one cage were Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Virgil, Justin and Matilda, in a second cage were Ganymede, Io, Alexandre, Estelle, Sheldon and Phoebe, Mimas, Titan and Brooke and one of the bags, and in a third cage were Miranda, Oberon, Triton, Blueberry, Neytiri, Charon, Azul, Alessandro and the other bag. Some of the macaws were uncomfortable in the cramped space.

"I honestly don't like being in a human container," muttered Estelle, gazing at the tight space, "It's making me feel claustrophobic."

"Jojo and Lavender's dad (Roberto) wouldn't have liked this one bit," said Sheldon. "In fact, he'd probably freak out and have a panic attack if he were in one of these."

"Can you see Tulio, Io?" asked Alexandre. Io gazed through the flood of legs and saw the familiar ornithologist as he stood at the check-in desk. While she did this, Ganymede read the monitor screen above the person at the desk before turning his gaze at the list of flights and their take off times, finding the one bound for Georgetown, Guyana.

"That's it," he said, pointing to the plane Tulio was to catch and then at the screen above the flight attendant at the desk, "That's the plane we are to catch."

Bia also did the same thing and nodded to Carla in the Spix macaw's cage. Carla then smiled.

"Okay, here we go," she said, "Let's head for the conveyor."

"What's a 'conveyor'?" asked Lavender.

"It's a moving belt," said Virgil.

"Belt?" repeated Jojo, "I thought that was the name of the thing some humans wear around their waist."

"No, not that sort of belt," said Matilda, "The one on which items are placed and moved."

Jojo and Lavender just said nothing and Matilda and Virgil just shrugged as explaining what a conveyor was seemed pointless. The three groups then advanced towards the conveyor where Tulio and his assistant were when suddenly, Alessandro in cage three saw someone approach the group from the side.

"Uh-oh, here comes someone," he said and with that, his group stopped as a couple of human boys approached. Carla and Ganymede's groups, however, continued.

"Hey look, are they toys?" said one of the boys. Suddenly, Miranda and Oberon sprang into action and made cat-like screeching sounds. They sounded so convincing that the two boys screamed and ran off. After this, Blueberry smiled at the great green macaw brother and sister.

"Man, that was close," said Charon, his wing on his chest, "Good job, Miranda and Oberon.

"Yeah, you've impersonated a pair of vicious cats really well," said Azul. Miranda and Oberon just smiled as they accepted the compliment. Then Blueberry's group continued after the other two cages and within moments, they were placed on the conveyor. As the conveyor carried the three cages towards the system where all the passengers' baggage were carried to different planes, Carla said, "Right, as soon as we reach the other end, we're gonna fly out and head for the plane. But we must say together!"

The others with her nodded and prepared for the trip through the system. Behind them, Io said the same thing to her group in the second cage and Blueberry also said this to her group in the third cage.

"We must spot the others and follow them," said Blueberry firmly, "And after that, we're gonna board the plane."

The others nodded though Alessandro wasn't sure. The human place was making him feel uneasy for he had never been in one before. Certainly not an airport. Putting off the unease, he prepared for the next stage which was through the conveyor system of the baggage handling section.

Sometime later, the three cages containing the groups of macaws finally reached the other end of the luggage sorting system to be collected by another baggage handler and loaded onto an airport vehicle trailer to be transported with dozens of other suitcases and the like toward the plane. However, before the plastic box-like cages reached this point, Carla and company had left the cages and carried their fanny packs and two bags out the cages with them. The three cages, now empty, were carried by the conveyor belt to the exit and they slid down a slide towards a baggage handler. When the baggage handler picked up the three cages and saw that they were empty, he put them to one side before resuming picking up the other bags and placing them onto a baggage trailer. While the baggage handler did that, Carla and her group hid behind the collection point of the conveyor system and prepared to make their move as soon as the baggage handler had finished with loading the rest of the baggage onto the trailer. Once the last suitcase had been loaded onto the trailer, the baggage handler left for the vehicle and climbed into it. As he started up the engine, Carla and company prepared to fly after it and across the airfield to the plane.

"Here we go, everyone," said Carla to the others, "Make sure you stay together."

"Is this what our parents had to go through when they came to Rio from London?" asked Justin in amazement.

"I think it is," said Io, "But let's stay focussed on following that baggage trailer. Look, there it goes! Let's go!"

As the macaws saw the baggage vehicle leave, the macaws immediately took off after it but they flew alongside and close to it, being careful not to get seen by the baggage handlers. As the group crossed the airfield, some of them, among them Charon and Neytiri, stole glances in various directions and saw various planes taking off or landing. However, they did not have time to admire the size of the airfield and continued flying alongside the trailer and keeping with the other macaws. Then soon, the driver arrived at the plane, the same one bound for Georgetown, Guyana and the one Tulio and his assistant had boarded. As soon as the driver of the baggage vehicle had stopped and pulled up so that two more baggage handlers who stood at the entrance to the cargo bay of the plane could start unloading the trailers, Carla peered out from behind the trailer while Bia read the labels on one or two of the suitcases. The labels had three letters which read GEO.

"This plane's bound for Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana," she told the others.

"We're on the right track then," said Tiago with a smile.

"How could you read that?" asked Jojo with a frown as he looked at the label, "It's just a jumble of markings."

"We've grown up in the human environment and our parents taught us how to read and write," replied Ganymede.

"Shh! Here comes an opportunity to board that plane," hissed Carla firmly. At this, the other macaws followed her gaze and fixed their eyes on the open cargo bay. The three baggage handlers including the one that had driven the vehicle to the plane were busily unloading the suitcases and bags from the trailer and putting it onto the plane. Carla then nodded to Bia, Tiago, Ganymede, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke and Mimas, the latter four who had one of the bags. They were going to board the plane first.

"Ready, you eight?" she asked. The macaws nodded nervously.

"We'd better be quick," said Mimas in a low voice, her talons firmly around one of the straps of the bag, "Otherwise one of those baggage handlers could spot us."

"Those three are called baggage handlers?" asked Brooke.

"Yes," said Titan, "They are in charge with transporting the baggage and loading and unloading it to or from the plane."

"Shh, here we go," called Bia, snapping the three blue-and-gold macaws' attention to the cargo bay entrance. The three baggage handlers were talking, their backs turned to Carla's group's location. This was the opportunity to rush for the cargo bay. Sheldon and Brooke trembled with nervousness.

"Right, on three," said Bia, "One… two…"

And then as soon as she said 'three', she, Tiago, Ganymede, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke and Mimas took off and hastily made a beeline for the entrance to the cargo. Sheldon and the three blue-and-gold macaws gripped the bag straps firmly while Tiago and Ganymede helped to carry the body which was loaded with fruit. The group of eight macaws flew past the trio of baggage handlers who didn't notice them, and crossed into the cargo and hid among the baggage. As soon as they had landed and breathed sighs of relief, Bia signalled to Carla to indicate that they had made it. Carla smiled.

"Well done, Bia," she said before turning to the next group consisting of nine macaws, which were Phoebe, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Jojo, Lavender, Alexandre, Estelle and Azul. They also had the second fruit-loaded bag. Carla watched the baggage handlers as they resumed loading the plane with more baggage. Then as soon as another opportunity arose with the baggage handlers not looking, Carla gave the signal and Phoebe and her group rushed off for the cargo bay, taking the other bag with them. The nine macaws did not stop until they were finally on the plane. After they had landed near Bia's group, Phoebe gave Carla the 'We've done it' signal in the forms of a thumbs-up like gesture with a wing. Carla smiled and turned to the remaining seven macaws, which were Miranda, Oberon, Triton, Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri and Alessandro. However, the last group was going to sneak aboard differently. Rather than all at once, they were going to go one or two at a time.

"Ready, you seven?" asked Carla. The others, despite the nervousness bubbling within Oberon, Neytiri and Triton's bodies, nodded. Miranda and Oberon then decided to go first. The two great green macaws prepared to make the dash for the cargo bay at the right moment.

"Make sure you are swift," said Carla, "I can see the baggage handlers are looking in the direction of where the last two groups flew."

In the cargo bay, the nineteen birds ducked and kept well hidden from the baggage handlers. Phoebe peered out and saw that Miranda and Oberon were poised to fly for the cargo bay to join them.

"Here come the two great green macaws," she whispered. Then as soon as the three baggage handlers turned their backs to the specific spot of the cargo bay, Miranda and Oberon's wings sprang into action. The two green macaws dashed like green, yellow, red and blue comets wearing fanny packs and entered the cargo bay, moments before one of the baggage handlers turned round. Miranda and Oberon the landed next to Bia and Tiago and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close," murmured Oberon who was panting, "I thought we were gonna be spotted for sure."

"At least you've made it," said Bia. Then the two great green macaws slumped onto the floor and began to relax. Triton and Alessandro then took their turn and made it onto the cargo bay while the three baggage handlers had their backs turned. Then Blueberry and Charon, and then last of all, Neytiri and Carla herself. However, as the glaucous and Spix macaws were about to enter the cargo bay, one of the baggage handlers happened to turn round. At this, the hearts of the other macaws leapt into their throats as the handler, a man, uttered "Que?" when he saw two feathered forms with brown things hover above the rim of the entrance. At this, Carla and Neytiri, ion a blink of an eye, dived among the nearest cluster of suitcases and hid. The man, upon seeing the two birds suddenly disappear, looked around, confused. Then he shrugged it off and resumed his job. Carla and Neytiri, after seeing the man continue his job, then flew over to Bia and the others and joined them. Their hearts were pounding like insect wings at the near miss.

"I thought you'd be spotted for sure, sis," said Tiago in relief. Neytiri then hugged Charon and Blueberry, relieved to be out of the sight of the baggage handlers. The near miss had frightened her.

"Well, at least we made it," said Carla and with that, she did a headcount of the other macaws. When the number 24 was reached, she smiled.

"Well, folks," said Io, "It's Guyana, here we come."

"Yep," said Justin.

"So how long will it take us to get there?" asked Matilda.

"Based on my calculations," said Bia, "I'd say… um… 15 hours."

"15 hours!?" repeated Jojo incredulously, "That's a long time."

"Yeah, and it looks like an overnight flight as well," said Lavender, "I've just noticed that the sun is soon to set."

"Then let's have some of the fruit we have collected and then get some sleep," said Carla. The others nodded. Then a bang sound was heard as the hatch to the cargo bay was slammed shut. The three baggage handlers, their task with loading this plane done, moved on as the plane began to head for the runway. A loud whistle flared from the engines of the plane as it moved (or taxied) towards the runway. In the cargo bay, the macaws huddled together and prepared for take-off.

"It sure is loud and noisy," said Alessandro.

"It's the engines," said Bia, "They have to spin really fast so that the plane can move fast enough so that the rush of air flows faster over the wing than under it, generating lift and making the plane take off."

"What do you mean by that, Bia?" asked Alessandro.

"She means that the plane has to move fast enough to fly, Alessandro," said Ganymede.

"I see," said Alessandro but he was still a little confused. Bia, at this, made a saddened face when she saw Alessandro's look. Virgil, at this, looked on worriedly. Outside, the plane continued towards the runway and as soon as it was on the beginning, the plane accelerated to high speed. The macaws inside the cargo bay felt the movement and were pushed against the baggage and jumped around slightly.

"Whoa," gasped Estelle in shock as she huddled against one of the two bags.

"Do planes have to move THIS fast?" asked Sheldon.

"Yes, in order to fly," said Ganymede.

"It's also not comfortable," said Jojo as he and the other macaws were rocked by the bumpy ride. Then seconds later, the plane was in the air. Its landing gear withdrew into the fuselage and the plane headed for the skies. As soon as the macaws felt that the plane was in the air, Carla called the group together.

"Okay, everyone," she said, "It's going to be a long wait until we get to Guyana. Until then, let's eat some of our fruit and then get some sleep. We will then find the legendary place by flying from Georgetown."

The other macaws nodded and then the whole group unzipped their fanny packs and took out some of the fruit they had packed before the journey and began to eat. However, Carla and her group were unaware that two more birds, also wearing a fanny pack each, had also stowed away on the plane.

 **Meanwhile**

Dusk was approaching and the darkness of the night was slowly eating away at the day of the sun which was setting in the western horizon. In the Sanctuary de Amazon, the macaws and the other animals continued their lives. The atmosphere of much of the soon-to-be-former sanctuary was gloomy, and sadness and disappointment continued hanging over a lot of the animals like a black cloud. In the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaw tribe's home patch, hyacinth and glaucous macaws continued their usual business. Flavio had organised a meeting with the high-ranked birds of the hyacinth clan and also with Rudi, Valeria and their inner circle birds of the glaucous tribe to discuss their future once the Sanctuary de Amazon becomes obsolete. The hyacinth and glaucous macaws were indeed miserable but a few of them were also sad for a few other reasons. In Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's hollow, Flor and Quincy were helping Pluto to stock up on food while Quincy and Flor prepared for bed as it was getting dark. Lapis Lazuli was at the meeting for she was Rudi's cousin and thus an inner circle bird. The two young glaucous macaws greatly missed their older brother and sister, Charon and Blueberry, and the choice not to go to Guyana had been very difficult for them. That, together with their month-long grounding, made the two siblings very despondent indeed. As the two young macaws placed some berries in a storage compartment of their family's hollow while Pluto was out foraging, Flor asked, "Do you think our older brother and sister and the others with them will find the treasure?"

"I hope so, sis," said Quincy, "It's gonna be unbearable if they come back empty-taloned."

Flor made a sad face at this possibility. Then she returned to packing the berries into the storage space. Not too far away from Pluto and his family's hollow, Juan, the cousin of Neytiri and Michelle's son, was having papaya dinner with his mother and was close to finishing it. He had been awfully quiet over the past three days and had done everything his mother told him to do. Like Quincy and Flor, Juan missed Charon and Blueberry, and also his cousin Neytiri, and also like his friends, he hoped that the myth was real as well. Juan then downed the rest of his papaya and as soon as he had finished the last piece, Michelle said, "Right, son, off to bed."

Juan breathed a sad sigh and obeyed while Michelle cleared away the seeds and skins. The young glaucous macaw trudged away into his room and slumped into his nest, knowing that this was only the beginning of the difficult time until Carla and her group return from their trip to Guyana.

In the Navyfeather Clan, Neptune had just returned from a patrol group with three other hyacinth macaws including Pedro, Victor's father. As he landed on the rim of the hollow entrance, Neptune felt a thought pop into his head. As soon as he had thought about this, Neptune entered his hollow. Inside, Ultramarine had put Indigo to bed when she heard the sounds of her mate's talons gently thump on the floor. At this, she turned round, exited Indigo's room and saw Neptune saunter sadly into the hollow.

"Is something wrong, Neptune?" she asked. Neptune looked up at her.

"I feel we need to talk," he said. Ultramarine, at first shot him a confused look but then went along with it. A minute later, Neptune was discussing his thoughts with Ultramarine. While the two talked, Indigo stood just outside her room and listened in, pressing her head against a protrusion of wall dividing the entrance of her room from the main part of the hollow.

"I'm planning on leaving the Sanctuary de Amazon and returning to Rio," said Neptune.

"Leave?" repeated Ultramarine in shock, "Why?"

"Look, Ultramarine," said Neptune gently, "I have been troubled by thoughts of Flavio planning to evict us from our clan due our son and daughter influencing the other macaws of Carla's meeting group into believing in one of our myths to be true. If that is so, then at least we will leave without being driven out…"

Indigo flinched and gasped at this idea.

"Look, Neptune," said Ultramarine, "I think you're being a bit paranoid. Carla and some of the others had just gone to Rio for a few days. That is all. I think they have enough sense to believe that the Bizarre Birds and Treasure story is nothing more than a fairy tale…"

Indigo allowed a breath of relief to escape her beak and prepared to return to bed. But then what Neptune, her father, said next, pulled her attention back to her parents' discussion.

"But what if they think otherwise?" asked Neptune worriedly, "What if they have gone to Guyana instead of Rio?"

Indigo murmured under her breath, "Oh, no, please don't mention that."

Ultramarine sighed irritated.

"Your worries sometimes get on my nerves sometimes, Neptune," she muttered, her wing on her forehead. "They have gone to Rio, and that's it. Will you please stop worrying about that group going to Guyana?"

Ultramarine then lifted her head and turned to face Neptune once again. "Let's just go to bed, okay? And as for Triton, when he returns, we're gonna give him some outright discipline for going off without our permission when he comes back after that few days trip to Rio, especially since he's supposed to be grounded."

Indigo then breathed another sigh of relief and returned to her nest while Neptune, having admitted defeat, went to his nest with Ultramarine to get some sleep.

 **The Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaw clan's territory**

Close to the edge of Reynaldo and Demetrio's clan's area bordering the flying fox colony's territory, a group of Spix, red, blue-and-gold, Lear's and green macaws were on patrol with some of the blue-throated macaws and hyacinth macaws from the two clans. With the group were Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Zephyr, Roberto, Nuvem, Ceres and Mercury and some of their friends including Maximillian from the Spix tribe. A number of chicks were with the group as well but they were kept well away from the border to the flying fox colony's area, and their parents had decided to take them out for a little while. It was better than to leave then cooped up in their hollows throughout their entire grounding period. While the group of young macaws were being looked after by some hyacinth macaws from Demetrio's clan while their parents scanned the border for any suspicious flying fox activity, Charlotte, together with Felix, Ricardo, Tyler, Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett, as well as Phoebe's two younger sisters, Jasmine and Annette, and Phobos, Deimos, Byron, Europa and Callisto from the red macaw tribe, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Bastian from the blue-and-gold macaws, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania the great green macaws, and Azul's two brothers Aurelio and Wilbur, stood together on some branches. A cloud of sadness and worry hung over them, and they were very worried for their friends who had left three days ago. Around them, the jungle was getting dark and it would soon be time to return to their tribes and clans for the night.

"I wonder how Carla and the others are doing," murmured Charlotte as she started into an orchid. Charlotte had been feeling totally miserable for the past few days since Carla and her group left and already, she deeply missed her two brothers Justin and Virgil, sister Matilda, cousins Jojo and Lavender and the others with them.

"I know how you feel, Charlotte," murmured Felix who sat beside her, "I miss my brother and sister terribly too."

"It had been an extremely difficult decision to stay behind," said Phobos who sat with Deimos, Callisto, Europa and Byron, "We miss our brother Alexandre as well."

Callisto then stared out into the darkening jungle. "They certainly were brave to venture out into a strange country, so far away from the familiar grounds of home and where there is an increased risk of poachers about, to help save the sanctuary."

"Yeah," said Europa as she fiddled with a leaf, "I just hope they don't run into any dire situations such as danger from poachers or predators."

Byron flinched at the thought of Estelle, Alexandre, Sheldon, Io and Ganymede or any of the others with Carla, Bia and Tiago getting caught by a harpy eagle or poacher, and what had almost happened to Flor, one of Lapis Lazuli and Pluto's chicks, during their trip to Rio with Neptune's family made him shudder.

"To be honest with you," he said, "Because they will be going to a country outside any protected reserve, they are more vulnerable to getting caught by poachers," Byron's eyes travelled to Charlotte, Felix, Ricardo, Tyler, Turquesa, Garrett, Músculo, and Jasmine and Annette, and he also thought about the glaucous macaw, "Especially the Spix, the Lear's and glaucous macaws."

"You're not kidding, Byron," said Ricardo. Then his brother Tyler's eyes travelled to Roberto as he delivered the report on the border to Demetrio and Reynaldo.

"You know, when the truth eventually comes out, Uncle Beto (that is, Roberto)," said Tyler, "Is not gonna like this when he finds that Jojo and Lavender are gonna be in a strange country."

"Dad absolutely despises the thought of us getting caught by poachers after his experiences with getting caught by one which led to his nightmarish time as a captive bird," said Felix, "In fact, he was against the idea of going to Rio with us for fear that we might face the same situation as Flor, one of Pluto's chicks, faced last year."

"We agree," said Turquesa. Garrett and Músculo nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a few alarmed shouts caught the attention of the chicks. At this, all the chicks' heads snapped in the direction of the patrol group.

"We've seen a group of four flying foxes flying due east," said one of them, Mercury, "But thankfully they're a good distance away from our border."

"That's good," said Demetrio, "Do you know where they are headed?"

"No, but it seems like they are just out foraging or something," said Zephyr, "But despite them being so distant from the border, we saw that all four of those bats are unmarked and scar-free, unlike most of their colony-mates…"

When the chicks heard this, they exchanged glances.

"Unmarked flying foxes?" repeated Jasmine confused.

"Maybe they haven't been in a fight with any birds yet," said Annette.

"Well, looks can be deceiving," said Garrett, "Maybe those bats are out looking for a bird to kill in a practice hunt and earn their first trophy."

"First trophy?" repeated Bastian confused. Enceladus turned to face him.

"Those flying foxes, whenever they kill a bird with a weapon," he said, "Take a feather of their victim and tie it to the end of their weapons. If a group of bats has killed a single bird, then each of the bats of the hunting party each takes a feather from their victim."

"Soleado explained that to us," said Tethys. Her gaze then turned into an annoyed scowl. "It seems that you haven't been paying proper attention to his lesson about the flying foxes and their danger, Bastian."

Bastian just sighed while Dione, Rhea, Enceladus and Iapetus just looked at each other and shook their heads. Bastian sometimes found lessons boring and his attention sometimes wandered. Then Ariel said, "Looks like they are done."

At this, all the chicks looked up and saw the mixed group of adult macaws fly in their direction. The two hyacinth macaws who had been looking after the chicks while their parents examined the border, went over to the patrol group while the chicks' parents gathered their offspring. Ariel, Umbriel and Titania heard their father call their name.

"It's time to return to our territory," said Uranus firmly. At this, the sisters turned and looked at their friends.

"We have to go," said Umbriel, "We'll see you again another time."

"It is getting late, anyway," said Titania as she looked at the twilight sky of the western horizon. Then after hugging their friends, the three sisters followed Uranus and they left. Zephyr, Nuvem, Roberto, Maximillian and their friends then came in and collected Charlotte, Tyler, Ricardo, Felix, Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo and left for the Spix tribe's territory, while Jupiter and Mars and their friends ordered Phobos, Deimos, Byron, Europa and Callisto away and the scarlet and green-winged macaws left for Felipe's territory. Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus and Bastian then followed Saturn and Bastian's father after they called their names while Mercury called for Jasmine and Annette and the two sisters followed him. As the group dispersed, they all said goodbye to each other before leaving, while their parents thanked the two hyacinth macaws for watching over their chicks. Only Aurelio and Wilbur were left, and they sadly watched as their friends departed for their respective tribes sand clans' territories. The two brothers then looked up and saw Ceres, their mother talk with Demetrio and some of the other blue-throated and hyacinth macaws from the Bluewing Clan, including the two babysitters.

"Do you think we need to keep a closer eye on that part of the border, Demetrio?" asked Ceres.

"Well if those bats are not planning anything suspicious," said Demetrio with a firm voice, "Then it's not necessary, but we'll keep a continual and daily eye on the border just to make sure. I think those bats are out a patrol or perhaps looking for some bird to attack and kill based on their unmarked appearances."

"But they were adults," said Ceres, "I would have thought they would have been covered in a lot of scars by now, like every other adult flying fox from the colony…"

"One of them also appeared to have had white fur as well, implying that it was an albino," said a blue-throated macaw and one of Ceres's companions. When Aurelio and Wilbur heard this, their eyes flashed a look of confusion.

"Albino bat?" repeated Aurelio, "Didn't Uncle Jupiter say that he had seen an albino bat with two other flying foxes amongst a group of birds after his brush with a watery death?"

"I don't know but it's not safe to find out," said Wilbur. Then the two boys heard Ceres call their names.

"It's time to go, anyway," said Wilbur and with that, the two brothers opened their wings and took off towards Ceres. Then Ceres led the two boys away in the direction of the blue-throated and Bluewing clans' home patch. Aurelio gazed into the direction of the flying foxes' turf.

"I wonder if there are any good flying foxes who are against the colony's teachings that we birds are vermin that deserve to be driven out," he murmured, "And are perhaps even friends with birds?"

As this unlikely thought bubbled within his mind, Aurelio followed his mother and brother.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- two more unexpectedly joins Carla's group, the first signs of trouble**

 **Hours later, back with Carla and her group**

It was night time in South America and the plane on which Tulio and his assistant, and of course Carla and her group in the cargo bay, was half way into its journey to Guyana. In the cargo bay, Carla's group was asleep. Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Matilda and Virgil were snuggled up together against a golf bag. Jojo had his head feathers no different from Roberto's set covering his face and he was snoring. Tiago, Bia, Matilda and Justin were simply breathing quietly, though a few faint raspy snores escaped Tiago's beak. Virgil and Lavender were twitching in their sleep, apparently dreaming, with Virgil dreaming about home and hanging out with his three siblings, including Charlotte, and friends including Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo. Ganymede, Io, Sheldon, Alexandre and Estelle were asleep by the two bags and pile of fanny packs which the group had taken off before meeting slumber. Ganymede uttered a few scientific facts on his sleep while Io dreamt about singing. Next to them, Mimas, Titan, Brooke, Phoebe, Miranda, Oberon and Azul were also snuggled up together, asleep with Titan snoring somewhat and Miranda stirring in her sleep, dreaming about painting and art. Alessandro, Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri and Triton were not too far away, in a cluster of their own. Four of them were sleeping soundly but one of them, Charon, was restless. He murmured in his sleep. A few inches away from the others, Carla was awake. She had woken up early and was looking at the map of Guyana in the atlas with a torch or flashlight she had snaffled from one of the other suitcases or bags. Behind her, Charon continued stirring, his movements and murmurings becoming more rigorous until finally, he jerked up, awake. Breathing rapidly, his heart racing and his dark turquoise and grey feathers bristled and sandy brown eyes wide from the shock of a bad dream, Charon registered his surroundings.

"Are you alright, Charon?" asked Carla quietly, having heard Charon jolt out of his nightmare. Charon, at this, rubbed his face with his wings.

"I'm fine," he murmured, "Just a bad dream."

He then stepped towards Carla, being careful not to wake up Blueberry, Neytiri, Alessandro and Triton who stirred slightly in their sleep.

"What are you doing?" asked Charon after releasing a yawn and stretching his wings.

"I'm looking at the map of Guyana," replied Carla, "But I'm in doubt."

"About what?" asked Charon, thinking that Carla was referring to the existence of the mythical birds and treasure. However, Carla knew that from his facial expression and shook her head.

"Not the existence of the place, Charon," she said, "It's location. That is, where it is in the country."

Charon came in and looked at the map. Guyana was well over 200,000 square kilometres in size, and most of its area was covered in tropical rainforest no different from that of Brazil and that begged the question. How were Carla and her group going to find an enclosed area inhabited by bizarre birds and containing the treasure over that amount of area? While Carla thought about this, Charon rubbed his face with his wings again.

"I'm sorry to have startled you," he said, "I was dreaming about the incident with Flor and her close call with those poachers last year."

"Oh, you mean when you're your younger sister was almost caught when you were travelling to Rio with Uncle Neptune's family?" asked Carla. Charon nodded.

"However," he said, "Unlike in reality when Dad managed to drive off those two humans with Mom and Uncle Neptune and rescue Flor, the poachers actually managed to successfully escape with Flor in tow, and Mom and Dad were seriously injured."

Charon stole a glance at Neytiri and Blueberry with a worried look on his face. His primary concern was Neytiri for she was highly inquisitive.

"I think Neytiri should have stayed at home," said Charon in a low voice before turning back to Carla. "She is, after all, highly vulnerable because of her highly curious nature. She loves new things and that could render her more vulnerable to getting caught, either by predators or by poachers."

Charon then shook his head once and sighed. "Collette wasn't treating our vulnerability," Charon referred to specifically himself, Neytiri and Blueberry as he said this, "to getting caught by poachers lightly at all. When she voiced her concerns about it before we left to find Tulio to catch the plane, the look on her face she gave us when she delivered the warning is indicative that she really meant it."

"I agree with her, Charon," said Carla, "We are vulnerable as we will be flying through unprotected territory where poachers are likely to be encountered."

"Listen," she continued, hoping to settle Charon's doubt and worry, "The chances of us encountering those animal thieves will be slim for Guyana is well over 200,000 km squared. And besides that, we will be sticking together throughout the quest."

Carla then flashed Neytiri a stern look, "But Neytiri over there must learn to stay by our side at all times. If she gets lost, we might never find her again."

"You see, that's what I'm worried about," murmured Charon, his gaze on Neytiri as she turned over and murmured something in her sleep. Suddenly, a soft sound startled the chubby Spix and slender glaucous macaw and they stiffened.

"Did you hear that?" whispered Charon. Carla nodded. Then the two began to look around, Carla shining the torch in the direction where she heard the noise. Charon came up to her side, the flame of nervousness slowly growing brighter.

"Don't tell me someone's followed us?" he muttered. Carla ignored him and took a few steps away from the rest of the group who were still asleep. She examined the dark miniature landscape of hills and valleys formed by suitcases and bags with the torch, eyes filled with suspicion and alertness.

"Can you find anything?" asked Charon timidly. Carla continued looking but found nothing.

"Must have been the movement of one of the bags or suitcases," muttered Carla as she returned to Charon. However, nothing could prepare the two for what happened next. As the Spix and glaucous macaw walked back to the other sleeping macaws, a voice sounded, "It was the two of us actually."

This sent sudden shock surging through Carla and Charon and they both jumped into the air as though the floor had turned suddenly very hot. As the two landed, Carla and Charon, their feathers on end and breathing and heartrates running ten to the dozen, looked around, the beam of light from Carla's torch darting here and there until it landed on two lumps of feathers wearing a brown pouch like the ones the macaws had. Then to Carla and Charon's shock, the two figures as they walked towards them, timid looks on their faces were two recognisable friends. One of them had faint pink plumage and a striking vermillion and yellow crest while the other had large eyes, dark brown and ivory underside with black-brown specks thrown across it, and menacing looking talons. They were a male half-sulfur-crested, half-Major Mitchell's cockatoo based on his plumage and a female peregrine falcon and they both had fanny packs strapped around their waists. As soon as Charon and Carla recognised them, their shock turned to anger.

"Milo, Velocity!" barked Carla, "What are you two doing here!?"

Charon also looked on angry but said nothing. Milo shrank back at the angry looks of the two macaws while Velocity flinched.

"We've come to help," Velocity timidly replied. Milo nodded in agreement. At this, Charon and Carla looked at each other and back at the two newcomers. At first, the Spix and glaucous macaw could not understand how one of Travis and Sunset's sons and Cometa and Lightning's daughter could have boarded the plane but then it dawned upon them both. However, it was an idea neither Carla nor Charon didn't like.

"Don't tell me the two of you have sneaked away from your families, have you!?" demanded Charon when he finally found words. Milo and Velocity gazed back at the glaucous macaw with guilty looks.

"We did," Milo finally spoke, "When you told us about the myth of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure back in Rio, and how you were going to go to Guyana to find it to save the Sanctuary de Amazon from losing its protected reserve status, we decided to help."

"So we sneaked away from our family's homes," added Velocity, "Picked up a fanny pack each from the stalls while you macaws faced being chased out by the owners with your two cat friends, Broccoli and Collette, and during that as well, Milo gathered some fruit while I left to pick up some fresh meat from the nearby butcher's…"

Velocity unzipped her fanny pack and showed Carla and Charon some lumps of pinkish flesh and added, "It's mostly chicken and a lump of duck. Since my species is strictly carnivorous, I had to go to the butcher's and nab these meat pieces, but I got into serious trouble with the butcher while I was picking up the duck lump and had to hot-wing it out of there. The butcher didn't half chase me, honestly."

"And then we followed you two to the airport," said Milo, "And we boarded the plane moments before the baggage handlers closed the cargo bay door, and here we are."

It took Carla and Charon a few minutes to absorb this information. When they finally did, they hardened their frowns.

"Don't you realise how worried your parents and siblings are gonna be when they find out you have both gone!?" asked Carla.

"I wrote a note to tell Mom, Dad, Eustace and Rosa that I had gone after you to help," said Milo.

"I did the same to tell Mom, Dad and Orion that I have followed you as well," said Velocity, "Though I met Milo just as we were about to snatch a fanny pack each from the same stands you went to get your supplies."

Carla shot Charon a dumbfounded look. They didn't know what to say at all but seeing that it was now too late for Velocity and Milo to turn back now, Carla had no choice but to take the peregrine falcon and cockatoo with her group for the rest of the quest. However, her gaze was still hard on the two newcomers.

"You don't realise how dangerous and risky this trip is," Carla growled, "This is a quest to a strange place where we're likely to encounter all sorts of hazards and if anything were to happen to you, say you got badly hurt, we won't be held liable for your situations."

"Absolutely," put in Charon, "So that means you're to stick with our group at all times and don't wander off."

Velocity and Milo nodded and with that, they followed the two macaws back to the rest of the group who were still asleep.

"We've still got another seven hours or more before we touch down in Georgetown," said Carla as she opened up the map of Guyana. Charon, Velocity and Milo looked at the atlas, "Once the rest of the group wake up, we will be having a review of the next leg of the quest."

"How are we gonna search the entire rainforest part of the country?" asked Velocity, a talon pointing to the green area of the image of Guyana, indicating rainforest. Carla looked at it.

"We'll get to that before we land in Georgetown," she said, "But until then, let's get back to sleep."

Charon nodded and with that, he returned to Neytiri, Blueberry, Triton and Alessandro's side while Carla returned to Bia and Tiago's side to settle down after putting away the atlas. Velocity and Milo then found a spot and settled down too. Then a few minutes later, the four had drifted off to sleep.

 **Next morning in Rio**

The sun just peered above the eastern horizon and in the city of Rio, people were waking up. In one particular house, a pair of cats had left the front door via the cat/dog flap to go for an early walk. Broccoli and Collette had woken up early which was unusual for them since they woke up after sunrise and not during. Both cats looked worried and concerned, especially for Carla and her group who were away.

"Boy, bro," said Collette, "What a night it has been last night. I couldn't stop dreaming about all kinds of things that could happen to Carla and her group."

"Well, we did give them a strong warning before they left, and I hope they have it in their heads while they are over in Guyana," said Broccoli. However, he was still laced with concern. It had been difficult in letting the macaws leave for the trip, and Broccoli was worried about how their parents in the Sanctuary de Amazon, if they ever found out that some or all of their offspring were in a strange country outside their knowledge, would react, especially if they hear that he and Collette had helped them go to Guyana. Based on this, Broccoli and Collette knew that they would be in trouble anytime soon once the truth is uncovered. What if the mythical treasure and creatures didn't exist after all? This thought preyed on the two cats' minds and all kinds of consequences flared with it, such as the loss of trust with their feathered friends for allowing Carla's group to go to Guyana outside their parents', especially Blu and Jewel's, knowledge, which Veggie's family had maintained over the years since after their arrival in Rio, and a bad reputation following it as most of the macaws in that group were the offspring of Veggie, Dash and Ginger's friends. Not to mention a bad image made of his and Collette's own father and calico mother who had contributed an awful lot in the past, such as helping to get Lysandre's group caught, and Dash and Ginger. Broccoli especially shuddered at how Blu and Jewel might react if they hear the truth about the whereabouts of their entire first brood. If Carla, Bia or Tiago or any of the other macaws that went with them ever got hurt, Broccoli and Collette knew that they would never forgive themselves. The cloud of worry hung over the two cats just like it was going to the other chicks in the Sanctuary de Amazon.

While Broccoli thought about these things, he and Collette were made aware of flapping noises made by several pairs of wings. At this, the brother and caliby sister looked up and to their surprise, they saw a white cockatoo with yellow markings and crest and a pale pink cockatoo with a bright red and yellow banded crest fly out from the birdhouse with two more but smaller cockatoos who had a mix of the sulfur-crested and Major Mitchell's cockatoos before them. All four wore looks of alarm and terror on their faces and their crests were raised.

"Milo!" cried the white and yellow cockatoo who was Travis, "Milo!"

Sunset, Rosa and Eustace also shouted Milo's name as they followed Travis into the brightening cityscape air above Rio. Broccoli and Collette looked at each other.

"Don't tell me Milo's gone missing, has he?" murmured Broccoli. Collette did not reply. Then the cats were alerted by more wing flaps above their heads. At this, the two looked up and, to their surprise, they saw three peregrine falcons, two slate grey and the other brown, fly in towards Travis and his family's birdhouse and perch onto it.

"Cometa, Lightning and one of their near-adult chicks," said Collette confused, "What are they doing here?"

Then she noticed that there were only three falcons present. Cometa's family consisted of four members, herself, her mate, and her son and daughter, but only one of their offspring was present. Before Broccoli and Collette could wonder why one of Cometa and Lightning's chicks were missing, the answer came straight from the falcons' beaks.

"I can't believe that Velocity has disappeared without a trace," cried Cometa, her voice thick with stress and worry, "She has left us a note telling us that she would be gone but she didn't say why. Where could she have gone? First she was present with us before we went to sleep, and then by this morning, she was gone."

"I don't know," replied Lightning as he knocked on Travis and Sunset's birdhouse, hoping that they were in, "Maybe Travis would know."

Collette and Broccoli then caught a glimpse of Cometa and Lightning's other chick whose face was plastered with fear and worry. Based on what Cometa and Lightning's mentioning of Velocity, their daughter being missing, it had to be Orion, and he looked fearful. Both Velocity and Orion looked almost identical except for their sizes with Velocity, despite being the younger of Cometa and Lightning's two chicks, being the larger of the two since female peregrine falcons were larger than the males. Also, Velocity had a slender build while Orion was slightly burlier. Cometa then began to have a meltdown.

"Oh, it's ALL MY FAULT!" she cried, her eyes weeping tears, "What sort of mother am I!?"

"Oh, don't panic, dear," said Lightning trying to calm her nerves, "We'll sort this out."

Collette and Broccoli flinched as Cometa began to lose control of her breathing and shake. Then Orion peered into the birdhouse when he realised that Lightning's knock was not answered.

"Mr Travis," he called as he looked in.

"Are the cockatoos in, son?" asked Lightning as he hugged the sobbing Cometa. Orion's head retracted from the hole in Travis and Sunset's sleeping compartment and shook.

"No, Father," he said. He then went to check the other three compartments, the three in which Rosa, Eustace and Milo slept. After peering into Rosa and Eustace's rooms and finding nothing, Orion peered into Milo's room.

"They're definitely not here, Dad," he said but then his voice changed. "Wait, I've found something."

At this, Collette and Broccoli cocked their ears as Orion's head withdrew from Milo's room with a sheet a paper in his beak. The young male falcon then handed his parents the sheet and Lightning began to read it. Being a domesticated falcon, he had learned to read.

" _Dear Mom, Dad, Rosa and Eustace, I will be absent for a while. I'm sorry if I cause you stress and worry. I love you, Milo."_

As soon as Lightning had finished reading this, Cometa, who had managed to regain her self-control and wipe her glistening eyes of tears, shot her smaller mate a horrified look.

"Travis and his family needs to see that," she said seriously. At this, Lightning and Orion shot her a worried and dreaded look. Realisation then took hold inside Collette and Broccoli.

"Well, that answers our question then, doesn't it?" said Collette.

"Yeah but then it begs another question," said Broccoli, "Where could Milo, and Velocity as well, have gone?"

 **Meanwhile**

The plane touched down in Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Georgetown, Guyana. In its cargo bay, Carla's group including Velocity and Milo, were awake and ready for leaving the plane. They hung on to each other and the surrounding bags as the cargo bay rocked with the bumpy ride, and each bird had his or her fanny pack strapped around their waists once again, and some of the stronger macaws ready to carry the two larger bags. While the others held tight, Ganymede and Mimas looked around the spot they were in, making sure that no fruit remains or feathers were collected to be disposed of once they left the plane to prevent suspicion of their presence being aroused in the baggage handlers. When the other macaws had seen Velocity and Milo, they were struck with incredulous shock but Carla had explained to them that they wanted to help though some weren't sure. The quest was risky and there were concerns about their families back in Rio. If they find out that they had gone to Guyana with Carla's group, they were going to be worried. Putting off these thoughts, Carla and company turned to focus on leaving the plane once the cargo bay was opened.

The group felt the plane slow down and then move at a steady pace.

"Listen," said Matilda, "We're finally in Georgetown."

"So Guyana is well over 200,000 km square in area," said Milo to Carla, "That's a lot of land."

"But it isn't as big as Brazil," said Bia.

"It's gonna take days to search the entire country and its rainforest," said Justin.

"Yeah, and the debt deadline is less than a month away," said Jojo, "I just hope the search doesn't last too long."

"It's taken us three days to get from our home to here, anyway," said Lavender with a frown.

"Let's just get ready for leaving," whispered Carla as the plane continued moving. The others obeyed and prepared for action. Then within seconds, the plane finally stopped but it was another few more minutes until the cargo bay door was opened. A group of Guyanese baggage handlers then set to unloading the plane and placing the bags and suitcases onto a conveyor that would take them to the baggage reclaim carousel in the 'Arrivals' department of the airport. While the handlers were engrossed in their work, Carla and her group quickly left the plane's cargo bay a few at a time, sneaked past the group of humans. Then as soon as all 27 birds were together and Carla had done a headcount, they all took to the air. The entirely new and unfamiliar landscape of Guyana lowered and lowered beneath Carla and her group as they climbed higher and higher into the sky.

"Whoooaa," cried some of them in awe. Justin, Matilda and Virgil's eyes were all wide in awe at the size of Georgetown. Georgetown was the capital city of Guyana and it was massive. A huge sea of houses stretched out below the group. Grey lines crisscrossed the sea of orange, grey and brown blocks and the group could see smaller points moving like tiny flies along the lines. The grey lines were roads and the moving dots, cars and other vehicles. Some of the macaws, such as Estelle, Alexandre, Io and Ganymede, looked to the left and saw, in the distance, an azure coloured sea extending to the horizon. The azure sea became more and more visible as the group gained more altitude.

"What's that blue stuff over there?" asked Estelle.

"That's the Atlantic Ocean," said Ganymede, "Guyana has a coastal region."

"Isn't that where your parents came from?" asked Jojo, "From some country across the Atlantic Ocean?"

"Europe is across the Atlantic Ocean, and the country you're talking about is the UK," said Justin, "We told you about where Uncle Jupiter and company grew up before coming to Brazil, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," said Jojo as he remembered. The macaws, Velocity and Milo then straightened out into a V-formation as they reached a reasonably high altitude. Carla flew at the front while those that carried the two bags, Mimas, Titan, Brooke and Jojo with one and Phoebe, Azul, Alessandro, Miranda and Oberon with the other, flew at the back. Below them, Georgetown stretched out for miles and Cheddi Jagan Airport was soon receding into the distance. Some of the macaws, especially the inquisitive Neytiri, smiled in utter awe at the size of the city.

"This is probably larger than the cities of Manaus and Rio combined," said Charon.

"I'd never thought that Georgetown would be so big," said Blueberry, occasionally flashing a glance at Neytiri and making sure that she didn't wander off.

"Which direction are we to fly, Carla?" asked Triton. Carla looked at the compass she had attached to her fanny pack.

"We're to head south," she replied in a loud voice for all to hear, "The rainforest part of Guyana lies due south, east and west of Georgetown."

"That sounds like a lot," said Brooke worriedly as she helped Jojo, Titan and Mimas carry one of the bags. Milo then gazed into the distance and frowned.

"Looks like a huge thunderstorm is developing over there," he said. At this, Carla and the others followed his gaze and saw that he was right. Ahead of Carla and her group was a massive black cloud and below it, a streaky mist, indicating rain and Carla thought she saw a small flash blink near the base of the cloud as well.

"It's a cumulonimbus cloud," said Bia, talking in her technical term language again.

"A thunderstorm," murmured Tiago, "And by the looks of it, it is heading this way."

"We'd better be prepared to find shelter before that envelops us," murmured Justin, "As we cannot fly well in the rain."

Carla gazed down at the sea of houses that was Georgetown and frowned.

"It might mean us taking shelter in an artificial construction if we cannot make it to the rainforest," she said. Estelle, Brooke, Sheldon, Alessandro, Neytiri, Jojo and Lavender shot Carla an alarmed look. Being wild-born macaws who had spent most of their lives in a natural environment, they were against the idea of staying in a human-made construct like a house. But if the thunderstorm in the distance was to catch them and they were still above Georgetown, then they wouldn't have a choice. Luckily, the thunderstorm seemed to be quite far off in the distance and it may be a while before Carla's group could encounter it.

 **Hours later**

Carla and company had been flying over the Guyanese landscape for hours now. However, they did stop and rest for some time when they had reached the outskirts of Georgetown and had eaten some more of their fruit or in Velocity's case, meat, packed into their fanny packs before continuing. Because they had eaten much of the fruit or meat from their fanny packs, the weight they had to carry was lighter, thus Carla and company were able to fly at a faster pace. Bia, Tiago, Lavender, Virgil and Justin then took their turn in carrying one of the bags while the other was carried by Milo, Blueberry, Charon, Triton and Matilda carried the other to give Mimas, Titan, Brooke and Jojo, and Phoebe, Azul, Alessandro, Miranda and Oberon a break. As Carla's group continued their quest deeper into the Guyanese landscape, Carla looked up at the sky. It was getting darker and dark grey clouds were thickening. The large rainstorm also appeared to be closer. Furthermore, the sun was sinking further towards the western horizon. Carla and the others knew that these conditions meant one thing.

"We're gonna have to find some shelter soon, gang," she said to the others.

"Yeah, that rainstorm's getting closer and closer," said Virgil as he gazed at the dark clouds looming just ahead while carrying a strap of one of the bags.

"We will be entering the rain soon," said Matilda. Io's eyes then travelled around the group as she examined the landscape for any signs of green sea, indicating forest.

"You know something, I cannot believe the size of the Amazon rainforest," she said, "It's surprising that it extends even into the neighbouring countries from Brazil."

"It does," said Ganymede, "The rainforest also extends into Peru, French Guinea and several other countries bordering Brazil."

"Guyana seems to have a wide variety of habitats I've read," said Alexandre, "It has savannahs, different sorts of forests, and river and coastal based habitats."

"It has a wide diversity of mini-biomes," said Bia, using her impressive choice of scientific words again, "It's surprising how diverse this country's habitats are."

"I ought to read more about this country when we return from this quest," said Velocity, "It sounds interesting. My brother Orion would love to learn about South American habitats."

"I'm sure he would," said Bia, "But let's stay focussed on finding this habitat of the mythical bizarre birds," she then faced Carla and asked, "So, where do we start?"

"I'm thinking…" Carla then entered into thought until she finally said, "Perhaps from the centre of Guyana?" she stole a glance from behind. "Georgetown is still close behind us. We can't start searching for this place until we're well away from that large city."

"That could take us days," murmured Jojo despairingly. He then looked at the sun as it approached western the horizon. "And the sun looks like it's about to set anyway."

Carla turned and saw that Jojo was right. The sun was approaching its setting point but she would rather lead the group further and further into Guyana as much as possible to get away from Georgetown. Sighing, she continued leading the group along. Much of the group was used to flying for ages due to their travels between Rio and the Sanctuary de Amazon, but the rest of them, such as Velocity, Estelle, Sheldon, Alessandro, Neytiri, Jojo, Lavender and Brooke, had never flown for so long in their lives at all, and their wing muscles were starting to ache, and sooner or later, the group will have to stop and rest again, especially for the night and until the stormy rains ahead of them passes.

As the group continued flying along with the sun getting ever closer to its setting point to end the day and also the rain approaching, Carla and her group were made aware of the sound of large wing flaps sounding near them. At this, Carla, awareness igniting within her, shot glances at the other members of the group. She looked at Bia, Tiago, Lavender, Virgil and Justin who carried one of the bags, then at Milo, Blueberry, Charon, Matilda and Triton who carried the other, before shooting glances at the other birds flying freely. First she looked at Io, Ganymede, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon, then at Phoebe, Titan, Mimas and Brooke, then Miranda, Oberon, Azul and Alessandro and then Jojo, Neytiri and Velocity. However, their wings, not even Velocity's, were too small to match the larger whooshing noises sounding from something nearby, and those noises came from larger wings. As Carla then began to look around warily, some of the other birds shot her a puzzled look.

"What is it, Carla?" asked Velocity. Carla's talon darted upward into a 'Shh!' gesture, so Velocity shut her beak. She and the other birds then began to look around.

"Can you guys hear that?" asked Carla. Near her, Phoebe listened.

"Sounds like the sounds of the flapping of large wings," she said, "It's not any of us for our wings are too small."

Phoebe then stole a glance at Triton as he carried one of the bags with Blueberry, Charon, Matilda and Milo and said, "And it's certainly not Triton. He's still too young to make large wing flap noises like an adult hyacinth macaw would make."

Then Miranda and Oberon were gripped with fear. Their green, red, yellow and blue plumages were bristled.

"I hope it's not what I think it is," murmured Miranda, referring to one specific bird that had large wings and especially large talons. Alessandro shot her a frowned look.

"A harpy eagle, this far south?" he muttered, "They mainly live on Brazil."

"Actually," began Oberon when suddenly, a shout of alarm from Tiago startled him, Miranda and Alessandro. The three then shot a look at the male chick who flew with his sister, Lavender, Virgil and Matilda as they carried one of the bags. The eyes of all five of them were wide with fright and Lavender's ponytail feathers, which bore a strong resemblance to her father Roberto's crest feathers except that they were tied back, were flared out, and all five were gazing to the left of the group.

"We're being followed," said Tiago, "There's a large bird flying alongside us."

"What sort of bird is it?" asked Phoebe.

"A harpy eagle?" asked Miranda fearfully.

"No, it's a black caracara," said Bia who used her well-developed knowledge of bird species to identify the large bird flying alongside the group. At this, the others including Carla turned and to their horror, they saw the large bird that was the source of the large whooshing noises. The bird's plumage was charcoal black, similar to the plumage of Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo, a friend of Jupiter and company and also Veggie, Dash and their friends back in Rio. The bird bore a similar body shape to Velocity and had bright orange fleshy spec-like marks around its eyes. A spot of white was visible on its wings and its talons were bright yellow. Its wings, unlike Velocity's vaguely crescent shaped wings, were slotted with their primary flight feathers protruding individually from them like human fingers. The black bird was larger than the young macaws and also larger even than Milo and Velocity but it was no bigger than an adult hyacinth macaw. The caracara's eyes, which were a shade of brown, were fixated on the mixed group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo, but they were not at all warm and welcoming, nor were they filled with curiosity or wonder at seeing a strange group of birds flying, each with a fanny pack around their waists and also carrying two bags. Instead, the eyes were unfriendly, sinister and intimidating, so intimidating that it sent shivers down the spines of some of the macaws and made their skins crawl. Velocity then shuddered for she did not like stares like that. They always made her feel threatened, and Neytiri fluttered behind Estelle, Alexandre and Sheldon, frightened by the caracara's gaze. Carla also continued staring at the black falcon-like bird.

"Carla," whispered Phoebe warily, "What should we do? Remember what we've been told about strange birds? Don't talk to them."

Carla didn't reply for her mind was occupied with possible escape plans. The thunderstorm was approaching and the sun was setting, but it was not safe to have this caracara following them. Besides that, it could be on the hunt since caracaras were carnivores like Velocity's species. However, this thought made Carla shiver. Then Io said, "Is the black caracara native to Guyana?"

"I don't know but its very presence and glare is giving us the creeps," muttered Ganymede, "Let's try to shake it off."

He then looked at Carla and asked, "Any ideas?"

Carla, her eyes still fixed on the caracara, continued to think until finally, she said, "Let's head for the green area below us."

"Good idea," murmured Velocity, "My insides are telling me that that bird isn't safe to fly alongside us. Let's go."

And with that, the entire group broke from their straight flight and descended towards the green landscape below. They were somewhat far from Georgetown but not far enough for the city to be tiny on the horizon. However, as the group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo descended towards a patch of green, which was a simple forest, the caracara dived after them. As she helped Tiago, Lavender, Virgil and Justin carry one of the bags; Bia flashed a glance back at the caracara and gasped when she saw the bird following them.

"It's following us," she called to Carla and the others timidly.

"Oh, don't look back," said Virgil, "Don't look back everyone."

"We can't have predatory birds chasing after us when we've got an important quest to complete," muttered Lavender exasperatedly.

"This is the sort of hazard we knew would encounter during our trip to this place," put in Justin.

"Predators," said Tiago. Besides the five Spix macaws, Milo, Blueberry, Charon, Matilda and Triton who carried the other bag, also flashed a glance at the caracara.

"I thought black caracara birds were scavengers," said Matilda.

"Yeah, they mostly feed on carrion or small animals," said Charon.

"Um… I've read somewhere that they also feed on other food like insects, fish and some fruit," said Milo.

"But never macaws or larger birds," said Blueberry. She then flashed a glance at the caracara's face and shuddered at the piercing gaze. "This one looks like it's hungry."

"Shut up and keep descending," snapped Charon.

"Okay, okay, Mr Bossy," replied Blueberry in irritation. Ahead of the bag carriers, Alessandro gazed at the rising green forest.

"I hope that forest will do," he said, "It doesn't look much like a rainforest but hopefully it would help us escape the caracara."

"Then let's head for the trees," shouted Carla and with that, the group accelerated downward for the forest below. However, the caracara remained hot on their tail but its eyes weren't flooded with hunger as Blueberry had believed, they were flooded with evil mischief and intimidation, as though chasing the macaws, Velocity and Milo was a joke. It was not the sort of light-hearted mischief Tiago or Matilda had when they planned their sensible pranks. As Carla's group continued their descent towards the trees, something nasty happened. The caracara then called to something. When Titan who flew with Brooke and Mimas saw this, he was flooded with puzzlement.

"What on earth…" he began.

"Sounds like it's shouting to something," said Mimas worriedly.

"Look, let's just…" began Carla angrily and impatiently when suddenly, loud screeches exploded from someone. At first, the group was confused but when they heard, "AAAAAHHH! HEEELPP!" their blood turned into iced water. Carla and the others snapped their heads in the direction of the shouter and when they saw that it was Justin, horror flared within them like a volcanic eruption. Something had darted in and had snatched Justin from Bia's bag carrying group and it must have responded to the caracara's call. And based on their body shapes, the kidnappers, which were two of them, appeared to be corvid birds, like a crow or a raven. When Matilda and Virgil, Jojo and Lavender saw their brother/cousin get carried away by the two corvids, screeching, they bellowed, "JUSTIN!"

"After those birds before they make off with Justin!" cried Carla and with that, the group abandoned their trajectory towards the forest and rocketed after the poor Spix macaw. However, the group was unaware that more birds, mostly corvids, were flying straight towards them. The caracara behind the group grinned evilly as the group of corvids approached the rest of Carla's group as they pursued the first two with Justin in their clutches. Then before the other 26 birds could see that there were more corvids heading their way, several black and black and white comets shot in and grabbed Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Lavender and the bag, and Phoebe, Estelle, Ganymede, Alexandre, Io, and Sheldon, much to the utter horror of the others. Then more corvids flew in and snatched Milo, Blueberry, Charon, Matilda and their bag right out of the air like flies as well. Next, Mimas, Brooke and Titan were captured, followed by Alessandro, Azul, Neytiri, Phoebe and Jojo, and Miranda and Oberon after them. When Carla and Velocity were left, the two became swamped with utter and confusion and horror as they saw the others get carried away by a few dozen corvid birds, shouting for help.

"What is happening!?" cried Carla, her green eyes flooded with terror. No sooner than these words escaped her beak, when a black a white bird, which appeared to be a magpie, flew in and grabbed Velocity. However, the fierce falcon fought back.

"LET ME GO, you PESKY…" bellowed Velocity and with that, she clawed the magpie across the belly, making the magpie screech in agony and retreat. However, two more magpies flew in and seized Velocity while three black birds which appeared to be ravens flew in and seized Carla. Then fury exploded within the peregrine falcon and her large eyes became like bulbous flames. Screeching angrily, Velocity began to flail and flap about wildly, lashing her talons and beak at the magpies. She inflicted a scratch on another and bit a third on the leg. The two magpies cried in pain but then more birds piled onto Velocity. Then what happened next horrified Carla, who was being carried away by some ravens and more magpies. As Velocity continued to furiously fight back, the caracara flew in and bashed the peregrine falcon on the head with a swipe of a talon clenched into a fist.

"VELOCITY!" cried Carla as she watched the falcon, who was stunned by the blow, drop like a stone towards earth. However, she was caught by a few more magpies and ravens and then carried by them after Carla. Carla then began screeching and shouting at the magpies and ravens that carried her away but the caracara flew in and sneered in her face.

"Lights out, blue macaw, and shut your beak," it crooned nastily and before Carla could retort, a hard pound to the head jolted her skull. Carla stopped flailing and shouting and her vision became lit up with glitter, like the glitter in a glass dome she had seen at Linda's bookstore one time. Then the communication between her brain and muscles were temporarily cut off and Carla's world became swamped with blackness. Then within moments, she was unconscious.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- Cometa and Travis's plans, meet Ilosovic the frigatebird and his gang**

 **Meanwhile, in Rio**

Sunset had arrived in Rio back in Brazil, and the daytime city activities were slowly coming to a close for the night. At Susan and Lucy's house, Broccoli and Collette were in the garden, admiring the sunset and keeping watch over the four third-litter puppies of Dash and Ginger, Tom, Sam, Micky and Rosie to give Dash and Ginger a break. The four young puppies were not as rambunctious and boisterous as Dash and Ginger's five first-litter puppies, Eduarda, Esperanza, James, Danny and Avellana had sometimes been but they were still energetic and playful. Broccoli watched the puppies as they played together and tumbled around, barking and laughing while Collette gazed at the sky.

"Um, I wonder how Carla and her group are doing," she murmured.

"This will be their second night outside of Brazil," said Broccoli, occasionally flashing a glance at the puppies as they played around, "They should be in Guyana now."

Collette nodded. However, she was still bubbling with worry and concern for Carla and their group and their safety. What if they had already run into trouble or danger? All kinds of possibilities raced through her mind but the one that made Collette's guts turn was the poacher thought. Since Flor's narrow escape from two of them, Collette had since been concerned for Charon and his family and friends, and she was especially worried about him, his sister Blueberry and their new friend Neytiri. Collette, however, hoped that the three, now that they were older, would have developed sense as they grew up from young chicks, especially after what almost happened to Blueberry and Charon's younger sister Flor. While Collette thought about the three glaucous macaws and the other macaws, Broccoli heard the sounds of flapping wings.

"Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Rosa and Clemont and Serena have returned," he said, "And… what are Rafael, Eva, Nico and Pedro doing here?"

At this, Collette turned and saw a group of three falcons and five cockatoos touch down just outside the garden and call for Dash, Ginger and Veggie. The falcons and cockatoos were accompanied by the famous toco toucan and his keel-billed mate, and the canary and cardinal duo. To the surprise of Broccoli and Collette, Rafael and Eva were still having kids, if fewer than when they were younger and fitter for the couple had a new baby with them, and Nico and Pedro still ran their club despite showing signs of aging. However, Nico and Pedro's club was slowly being taken over by three galah friends of Travis and his family for Nico and Pedro will soon be retiring. Wondering why Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Eva were accompanying Travis, Cometa and their families and two friends, Broccoli and Collette crept towards the birds. When they got closer, they saw that Serena and Clemont, the female sulfur-crested and male citron-crested cockatoos and close friends of Eustace and Rosa, wore shocked and worried faces. Eustace and Rosa must have told them about their missing brother, and the news of his and Velocity's absence had also reached the ears of the old friends of Blu and Jewel. When Broccoli saw the new baby toucan of Rafael and Eva, he frowned.

"When are those rabbit-toucans going to stop having chicks?" he murmured, "The must have had about fifty or so now."

"Some of their older offspring are no better," hissed Collette, disgusted eyes piercing the two toucans and their baby, "They've been breeding like mad as well, and many are not disciplined. Is it any wonder the other avian residents, and of course the mammals living on the Blu Bird Sanctuary have often faced trouble with those big-nosed troublemakers?"

"It seems that even that infamous marmoset gang led by Mauro's son Maxie are facing some serious trouble from the toucans as well," said Broccoli, "Talk about an ironic twist since those monkeys are often mischievous and often cause tourists and sometimes even some birds trouble."

Collette nodded. Then their attention was pulled back to the group of birds as Dash, Ginger and Veggie stepped out from the front door to talk to them. Broccoli stole a glance at the puppies.

"One of us needs to keep an eye on those four," he told Collette, "Shall you listen in and come and tell me once they've finished?"

Collette nodded and Broccoli left to return to watching the four puppies as they continued to play. Collette was left by herself and she cocked her ears to the conversation between Cometa, Travis and their friends and family and Dash, Ginger and Veggie as it started up. Though it was getting dark, she could make out the shapes of the birds, two greyhounds and her father.

"Any luck?" asked Veggie. The heads of Travis, Sunset, Cometa and Lightning, and also Nico, Pedro and Rafael shook from side to side.

"I'm afraid not, Veggie," Collette heard Travis say.

"We have searched everywhere," said Rafael's voice, which sounded rough but still usual, "None of the green-winged macaws on the Blu Bird Sanctuary have seen Milo and Velocity and neither have Nico and Pedro's club members."

"In fact, none of our clubbers know where Milo and Velocity are," said Nico.

"Neither does Kipo, the rosette spoonbill who often attends our club," said Pedro.

"I've asked James and his Shih Tzu friend Pelusa if either Nevado the Persian cat or any of their canine and feline clubbers have seen those two birds but they also said no," said Sunset.

"They're not even in Luiz's garage," said Lightning, "And Luiz had said he hadn't seen them either."

"We also asked our cockatoo club members about Velocity and Milo's whereabouts as well," said Serena, "But they said they haven't seen them at all."

"In fact, they said that they haven't seen Milo all day," said Clemont.

"Did you have any luck when you asked Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo, Gris the African grey parrot, Elsa and Inky the King Charles spaniel from next door, or any of the cats, dogs, birds and other pets who live in your neighbourhood about Milo and Velocity, you three?" asked Cometa. This was answered by the shakes of the two greyhounds and cat's heads.

"No, we've explained what you have told us about the notes Milo and Velocity have left you but they don't know where they are," said Ginger. The falcons and cockatoos sighed in utter disappointment.

"We're really sorry, amigos and amigas," said Rafael in a sympathetic voice, and Collette heard Sunset and Cometa begin to sob. Then she saw the shapes of Orion, Eustace and Rosa fly up onto the roof and perch on its top, Serena and Clemont following them. Collette felt sorry for the former three and their families. They were so wracked with worry and dread about their missing family members. She prepared to return to Broccoli's side when Dash's voice pulled her attention back to him, Ginger, Veggie and the birds standing before them.

"Wait, I think I know where Velocity and Milo could have gone," he said. This reignited hope inside Cometa and Lightning, Sunset and Travis and they turned to look at him.

"You do?" asked Travis. Collette then cocked her ears to listen more intently.

"You remember when Carla, Bia, Tiago, accompanied by Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Ganymede, Mimas and several other macaws including a half-scarlet, half-green-winged hybrid and a chestnut-fronted macaw when they arrived in Rio yesterday morning?" asked Dash. Collette saw Travis, Sunset, Cometa, Lightning, Veggie and Ginger's heads nod. However, Rafael, Eva, Nico and Pedro looked confused.

"Blu and Jewel's two daughters and son and some of their friends have come here?" asked Rafael confused.

"Oh, yeah," said Cometa, who had stopped crying, "We met them yesterday morning, didn't we?"

"You four weren't here when Carla and her group turned up," said Veggie to Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Eva, "So we'll explain what happened between us and them. Maybe that would provide us with a valuable clue as to Velocity and Milo's whereabouts."

Then Collette listened to Veggie, her dad, launch into an explanation to the four old friends of Blu and Jewel. He told them everything, including the myth of some bizarre birds and some treasure, their plans to go to Guyana to find it in order to save the Sanctuary de Amazon from losing its protected reserve status (Which Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Eva had heard of), and how they had left without their parents back in the Sanctuary de Amazon knowing, much to the shock of the two toucans, cardinal and canary.

"…and that's about it," said Veggie, "Broccoli and Collette helped them to get the supplies and saw them off."

He then turned to Dash while Rafael, Eva, Nico and Pedro absorbed the information into their heads and asked, "So what was it you were gonna say, Dash?"

Dash, at first, gave a stern look before finally saying in a low voice, "I believe that Milo and Velocity could have followed Carla and company and gone with them to Guyana."

When Collette heard this, horror and shock flared within her, but it also flared within Travis, Sunset, Cometa and Lightning, and also Rafael, Eva, Nico and Pedro. Then the two adult falcons and two cockatoos' faces morphed into an angry look.

"They've WHAT!?" barked Cometa in outrage.

"But how!?" asked Lightning, "How, and why, would our daughter and one of Travis and Sunset's sons follow Carla and her group to Guyana!?"

Collette was totally thunderstruck, her mouth hanging open. Then Broccoli walked in to check on her, but he had also heard Dash's belief of where Velocity and Milo might have gone. Collette turned to look at him.

"Those two must have been following us while we were helping Carla and company to gather the supplies for their trip," she said, "And had must have boarded the plane with them."

"Then that must explain their absence," said Broccoli with a frown. Collette was about to reply when she heard Travis speak. At this, the two cats turned and listened to the older sulfur-crested cockatoo while Sunset had flown to the roof to tell Orion, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont and Serena about Velocity and Milo's whereabouts.

"Well, we're gonna take a trip to the Sanctuary de Amazon like how Carla and the others with her had taken a trip to here," he said, "If their parents, especially Blu and Jewel, aren't aware that Carla and those other macaws had gone to Guyana, then they must know right away."

"Yes," said Lightning angrily, "We'll leave Rio early in the morning."

"Well, good luck with that," said Rafael, "And I hope Blu, Jewel, Jupiter and the others will think of a way to sort this mess out. However, we're too busy looking after our new son Tomas here so we cannot come."

Veggie rolled his eyes while Dash and Ginger shook their heads in disapproval.

"When are you gonna stop having chicks when you've got well over four-dozen already, Rafael," hissed Veggie under his breath out of Rafael and Eva's hearing range.

"And we're training the three galahs to run our club once we retire," said Pedro, his wing around Nico, "So we're not able to come either."

"We're so sorry about the Sanctuary de Amazon's certain fate, though," said Eva sadly, "It's heart-breaking to hear that our human friends are struggling to pay this debt."

"I know it is," said Travis in sad agreement, but then he turned serious. "But our top priority is letting Blu, Jewel and the others know and getting the real truth out to them as soon as possible."

Then Sunset, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Orion joined the group. The latter five wore shocked looks on their faces. As soon as the group had regathered, Cometa said, "But if we're gonna set off for the Sanctuary de Amazon very early tomorrow morning, we're gonna have to be in bed early as well. The sun's going down already."

Collette and Broccoli gazed at the sky and saw that the night was creeping in, the onyx sky chasing away the pale pink, yellow and orange glow of the sun's light. Then the two cats were made aware of Dash's four-footed footsteps.

"Speaking of that, it's bedtime for our puppies," he said. At this, Collette and Broccoli rushed back to the four puppies as Dash entered the garden. Then Cometa, Lightning and Orion prepared to leave.

"We'll meet you at your birdhouse at dawn," said Cometa to Travis, Sunset, Eustace and Rosa, "And then we'll begin our two or three-day flight into the Sanctuary de Amazon."

"Shall we escort Clemont and Serena back to their homes?" asked Lightning. Clemont and Serena, at this, made disappointed groans.

"But we wanna come," said Clemont.

"Yeah," said Serena in agreement but Travis and Sunset shook their heads.

"I'm sorry, you two," said Sunset, "It's too dangerous. You're better off staying here in Rio."

At this, Clemont and Serena's faces creased into glum frowns and they joined the peregrine falcons' side. Rafael, Eva and Nico and Pedro also got prepared to leave, the toucans with their new chick.

"And we're off back to our hollow as well," said Rafael, "Tomas here is struggling to stay awake."

"Okay, I'll see you," moaned Veggie dryly. Ginger then bid the two toucans farewell and left to see to the puppies with Dash while Rafael and Eva took off into the evening air, Tomas, who was asleep in Rafael's talons, in tow. Nico and Pedro also said goodbye to the group and left for their club. Cometa stepped in, staring at Rafael and Eva as they left.

"Does that toco/keel-billed couple ever stop having kids?" she muttered, her wings on her hips.

"I don't know," said Veggie with a frown, "But they are getting a bit old to keep on having one brood after another, anyway."

"Yeah," murmured Eustace, "Uncle Saturn wasn't kidding about describing them as breeding like rabbits."

"At least they do so well in producing so many kids despite their old age," said Sunset sarcastically and distastefully, "While I'm not able to have any more kids myself. They don't half make me feel small sometimes, you know."

She then turned to Eustace and Rosa and said, "Okay you two, time for bed."

Rosa and Eustace obeyed and turned to say goodnight to Clemont and Serena.

"I hope you have a safe journey into the Amazon, you two," said Clemont, a hint of jealousy in his tone of voice. Serena nodded in agreement.

"We will," said Rosa.

"We'll see you two later," said Eustace and with that, the two sulfur-crested/Major Mitchell's hybrids opened their wings and took off after Sunset towards the birdhouse. Next, Cometa and her family and Clemont and Serena said goodbye to Veggie and Travis and took off for the sky as well. Clemont and Serena stole a final glance at Susan and Lucy's cottage before following the falcons into the darkening air. Travis and Veggie were left when the latter released a yawn.

"I'd better get to bed too," he said, "We're up early and Cometa's family will be meeting us at sunrise."

"Well, you go to your birdhouse and if we don't see you in the morning," said Veggie, "We'll see you when you get back, and I sure hope you get this thing sorted."

Travis nodded, opened his wings and took off for the birdhouse where Sunset was waiting. Then Dash, Ginger, the four puppies, Collette and Broccoli walked in.

"And as for us," said Veggie, "There's nothing we can do since we can't fly."

"Yep," said Dash in agreement. He then turned to Tom, Micky, Sam and Rosie and commanded them to follow him to bed, which they did. Ginger came by and followed. Then Broccoli and Collette appeared.

"Dad," said Collette in a small voice.

"Yes, daughter," said Veggie.

"Do you think we could be in trouble for helping Carla and company to go to Guyana to find a place that might not exist?" murmured Collette. Broccoli also braced himself. Veggie then shot her and Broccoli a glare.

"You both will if Blu, Jewel and the others find out that their chicks have lied to them," he said in a hard voice, making Broccoli and Collette flinch. Veggie then hardened his gaze.

"And to add," he added, "Carla and company could well face serious danger while they're in Guyana, and if anything were to happen to them, at all," Veggie's voice became harsher, "Not only you two, but we, us as a whole, will be in _serious trouble with our bird friends!"_

Broccoli and Collette flinched as their father said this. Then Veggie ordered the two inside, which they obeyed without hesitation. As the two entered the house through the cat/dog flap, Collette and Broccoli gazed at each other, hoping that Carla and company were alright.

 **Meanwhile**

Carla's vision emerged out of the shadow of unconsciousness. As it did, a crowd of blurry shapes appeared. Carla then uttered moans. Her head felt like it was full of rocks and the last thing she remembered was being struck on the head by the caracara as she screeched and struggled in the talons of some ravens and magpies and seeing Velocity fall towards earth only for some more ravens and magpies to catch her. As Carla's vision began to clear, one of the blurry shapes, which appeared to be a black form with a red patch, turned to another black shape with an orange smudge on where its head would be.

"The chubby Spix macaw is coming round, Ilosovic," it said, "And I think the chestnut-fronted macaw is as well."

"Good, Morgana," said the first black shape with the red patch, "Hopefully this group of macaws will make a great part of our gang."

When Carla's ears picked up these words, the Spix macaw whipped her head but then she felt an odd sensation around her left ankle. At this, Carla looked down at her ankle and saw a ring of tough thread tied in a loop around her foot. The thread then led from the loop to a large trunk, where it was tied in a mass of knots. Carla, upon realising this, felt horror flare within her. Her eyes then darted this way and that until her eyes landed on the other birds.

"Carla, you're awake," called Bia's voice.

"Are you alright?" asked Tiago's voice. At this, Carla turned and saw Bia and Tiago together with Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender, concerned looks on their faces, gaze at her. Like Carla, they were tied to the trunk as well, threads emanating from the mass of knots to their ankles. Nearby, Ganymede, Io, Estelle, Sheldon, Alexandre, Titan, Brooke and Mimas were cradling Alessandro who was just coming round. They, too, were tied to the tree trunk via the same method. Past this group were Phoebe, Azul, Miranda, Oberon, Triton, Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry, and Milo and Velocity who were also tied to the tree trunk the same way. All the birds still had their fanny packs around their waists and some of them looked covered in bruises and a few cuts, and Carla was alarmed to see that the back of Velocity's head was marked with a large, purple-black bruise where the caracara had struck. However, the peregrine falcon was furious. Then Charon tried to take off but when he lofted into flight, the string tying his leg to the tree trunk tensed as it reached its length, and Charon found himself flapping in mid-air. Frustrated at this revelation, Charon dropped to the ground. Blueberry tried the same but the same thing happened to her.

"Hah, those two glaucous macaws certainly do look eager to be free of their tethers," said a sneering voice, much to Charon and Blueberry's anger. This was accompanied by some snide laughs. Carla then asked, "Wh-where are we?"

"You're in this forest, Spix macaw," sounded a deep, gangster-like voice. At this, Carla turned to face the speaker who was surrounded by other birds. Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Jojo, Lavender, Matilda and Justin all flinched in utter shock, and some of the others shrank back away from the group of birds before them.

Standing before Carla and her group was another group of birds. The one who had spoken to Carla was a frigatebird. He had jet black feathers and a large red bubble-like pouch on his throat. He wore a pirate-like patch over his left eye and his right green eye was piercing, sinister and intimidating. His beak was wide with a sickly smile. Flanking the frigatebird were ten more birds, each of various species. One of them was a female black caracara which Carla recognised was the same one who had flown alongside the group before capturing them; another was a red-tailed black cockatoo, the same species as Ónix back in Rio. However, this cockatoo wore an equally mean looking face as the frigatebird and the caracara and some of the birds of Carla's group, among them Milo and Neytiri, felt intimidated by the cockatoo's face. The cockatoo was muscled and a couple of scars streaked across his face and chest. The third bird was a male white fulmar, a seabird like a petrel, the fourth bird was a male barn owl, a species of owl that normally inhabited farmlands, the fifth was a male orange-breasted falcon, the sixth was a female barred-breasted falcon, the seventh was a female horned owl, the eighth was a male black eagle who was also heavily muscled like the red-tailed black cockatoo, and the ninth and tenth were, to the group especially Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Virgil, Matilda and Blueberry, Charon and Neytiri's, surprise, a male glaucous macaw and a female Spix macaw respectively.

The female Spix macaw had blue feathers and chocolate brown eyes. Her head feathers were a small ruffle at the back of her head and she appeared slender. Her eye patches were blue-white bordered by dark navy blue. These features reminded Carla, Bia and Tiago of their father Blu for he had similar features. The male glaucous macaw was stocky. Like all glaucous macaws, he had a grey head and neck, yellow eye rings and beak lappet, and dark grey beak and talons. His eyes were a shade of lavender and he had a very unusual crest. His crest feathers were a mowhawk-like hairstyle, very like a cockatoo's crest when it was fully raised but the feathers were shorter. The rest of his feathers were azure blue though the underside of his tail and parts of his wings were also grey. However, the two macaws also wore mean looks like the other birds present with the frigatebird. Carla then turned and saw that these eleven birds weren't alone. They were accompanied by a few dozen more birds, all corvids. They were all ravens and magpies, and they also looked mean. Carla, Bia and Tiago shuddered as the crow assistants of Lysandre's falcons came to mind, and the other birds especially Velocity did not like these birds at all. It took a while for Carla's group to register their whereabouts and also the new group of birds before them but based on the mean looks of the frigatebird's group, they sensed that something was not quite right about them. Finally, the frigatebird spoke.

"Ah, you lot are finally awake at last," he crooned in a gangster-like voice. His group members tittered.

"It sure was fun catching you lot from the air," said the caracara. Her gaze, however, turned to Velocity and changed from smug to a stink eye. "But three of our magpies did receive some nasty injuries because of YOU, falcon. You certainly do have an attitude problem."

Velocity stared past the caracara and saw the three magpies; the same ones she had injured get their wounds treated by two ravens. Two had claw marks across their torsos while the other was limping. However, Velocity did not regret attacking them during the mid-air skirmish which led to Carla's group capture.

"An attitude problem!?" she retorted to the caracara, "It was out of self-defence! Normally I'm not violent with birds that are too big for a falcon to eat but if they're a threat like how those magpies were, then I will not hesitate to use my talons and beak."

The caracara replied with a cheeky look on her face. "But you were still unreasonable to hurt our magpie friends like that," she said, making Velocity wince in revulsion at her attitude. Then Io spoke for the exasperated peregrine falcon.

"There is such a thing as self-defence, you know," she rhetorically snapped, "I agree with Velocity. She normally isn't aggressive but you tend to go become instinctively defensive when you or your friends or family are in utter danger."

The frigatebird smiled. "Well, that peregrine may have a bit of a short fuse," he crooned, eyeing Velocity, "But I believe that trait would make her an excellent friend for Jafar, Elektra and Valack here," he nodded to the male orange-breasted falcon, female barred-breasted falcon and the male barn owl who all wore sly looks on their faces. "As these three love to use their talons and beak to cause a lot of trouble."

Velocity's eyes flashed again. Then Carla hardened her gaze on the frigatebird. "What do you want with us, anyway, frigatebird?"

The frigatebird's beak widened all the more as his smile lengthened in enthusiasm at this question. Then the Spix and glaucous macaw looked at him.

"Do you think we should start looking for shelter, Ilosovic?" said the Spix macaw.

"The rainstorm's very near," said the glaucous macaw, "It will soon start to rain any minute."

The frigatebird shot the two macaws a look and said, "In a minute, Kira and Aiden. We still haven't introduced ourselves to these potential new recruits to our gang yet."

Carla, Bia and Tiago's eyes flashed with shock at the frigatebird's mentioning of 'recruits'. Then Jojo mouthed the word in confusion while Lavender, Virgil, Matilda and Justin only looked on in shock. Io and Ganymede shook their heads in disgust while the others were flooded with dread. None of Carla's group certainly liked the idea of becoming recruits for this group of birds one bit. And besides, they have an important quest to complete, but what was more disturbing was the fact that two of the gang members were the same species as Carla and her two siblings and five friends, and Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri. Then the frigatebird turned to face Carla and her group and said, "Right, where was I?" said the black seabird, "Oh, yes, what do we want with you lot?"

Carla and her group gazed back at the seabird with disgusted looks on their faces as the frigatebird stepped towards Carla and put a long black wing around her back. "Well, that's an interesting question but…" he then shoved his beak into Carla's face much to her revulsion, "I think a little explanation might be a great way to answer it."

And with that, he leaped away and returned to his group. "I would like you boys and girls to join in, if you don't mind."

In response, the frigatebird's gang took up their positions with various makeshift instruments made from vines, branches, bones and half-fruit shells and started up a song. Or rather, a sort of rap.

Ilosovic: My name is Ilosovic the frigatebird, I'm the meanest, the baddest and most devious bird around. These birds here (he gestures to the other birds), are my underlings and together, we're an awesome gang, the baddest gang that you have found… (Carla and her group react in revulsion).

Ilosovic then turned to Kira and Aiden and said, "Alright, you two, over to you."

Kira ("Okay, Ilosovic"): (strut towards Carla and her group), we're a group of mean; troublemaking birds who love to go round, causing a heap of trouble…

Aiden: be it other birds or animals, those hateful humans, and when we work together, you can make that double!

Kira and Aiden and the other birds of Ilosovic's group: we're the gang of trou-ble-ma-king birds!

Kira and Aiden (both jump over to the other birds): This caracara, she's Morgana (Morgana winks to Carla's group as she plays a stringed instrument); she's devious, insidious and totally sly… (go over to the red-tailed black cockatoo) and this is Butch, he's mean, aggressive and not to be messed with and he'll tell you why…

Butch (plays drum-like constructs, speaks fiercely): I have a very short temper. I'm rough, I'm tough, and I'm like a flame (Milo shudders while Neytiri hides behind Blueberry and Charon). You dare get on my bad side, mess with me, and boy will you face serious shame!

Butch (nods to barn owl and two falcons, the orange and the barred breasted): these three meanies, named Valack (nods to the barn owl), Jafar (nods to the orange-breasted falcon) and Elektra (nods to the barred-breasted falcon) (Valack, Jafar and Elektra: hello) are very sly. They are cruel, and nasty, and very dangerous (some magpies: you can see why)

All of Ilosovic's group: we're the gang of trou-ble-ma-king birds!

Ilosovic (gestures to fulmar, horned owl, and black eagle): meet Drax. He's a fulmar. He loves causing mayhem (Drax flashes an evil smile), and this horned owl, her name's Drizella. She's spoilt, she's rotten and she's very bratty but don't you dare anger her, she can be very bad (Drizella flashes an evil smile), and meet this black eagle by the name of Gaston. He is very handsome, but he's ruthless, he's fierce, and easily angered, and you won't like him when he's mad. (Gaston winks to Carla's group but they glare back at him).

Ilosovic (jumps over to the magpies and ravens): These magpies and ravens are our friends. They are a bunch of very mean birds. They are sly, are devious and love to steal things from humans, and cause trouble. (The crows and ravens wink at Carla's group). And when they launch a co-ordinated attack on a group of people or other animals, their trouble can become double!

All of Ilosovic's group: we're the gang of trou-ble-ma-king birds!

Ilosovic (jumps over to Carla and her group and puts wings around Carla, Bia and Tiago): Now that our intro's over, it is time for you lot to join us. I'm sure you'd make a fantastic part of our team. (Pushes his beak into Carla's face), but you can forget all about your families and friends. They're not important. It is time to face a new future, one that's truly agleam…

Carla: B-b-but…

Ilosovic (in normal, speaking voice): ah-ah-ah, no 'buts'. It's time for you lot to join us now.

Bia (angrily): whatever for!?

Tiago: is it to become gangsters and cause all the trouble you speak of, even if it means severely damaging humans' property and viciously attacking them even without reason?

Ilosovic: You've got that right, lad.

(Rest of Carla's group reacts in shock). Justin: But we don't wanna participate in activities like that.

Matilda: Some of us may like pranks but we don't play malicious tricks on anybody. That would be bordering on being hoodlums.

Virgil: we've got more important things to think about than your requests to join your gang.

Jojo: we have a sanctuary to save and we don't need you lot standing in our way. (Others shout in agreement).

Ilosovic, when he heard Carla's group's shouts against joining his group, backed away, stunned while his gang stopped playing the music. Carla hardened her gaze to clarify her group's statement but then Ilosovic's gaze turned back to a wicked one.

Ilosovic (smiling evilly): I'm afraid that's all in the past, you lot. We're your friends now. (His group resumes playing music)

Ilosovic (leaps away singing): so now that you're with us, like I've said… it's time to join us and together… we will BEEEE…

All of Ilosovic's group: THE GANG OF TROU-BLE-MA-KING BIIIIIRRRRRDS! (music stops)

Ilosovic, after the song had finished, then smiled at the disgusted Carla and her group. However, neither he nor his group members were aware that Velocity was fiddling with the tether linking her to the trunk by using her razor-sharp talons to weaken the string. She, with Alessandro, Milo, Miranda and Oberon gathered round to obscure Velocity's effort.

"Right, then, it's time for our next step," said Ilosovic, "Initiating you into our gang but first, we're feeling a bit peckish."

"All that rapping has made us hungry," said Elektra the barred-breasted falcon. Ilosovic then nodded to the magpies and ravens and they brought forth two bags, the same ones Carla and her group had carried while Gaston the black eagle dragged in a large capybara carcass for the meat-eating birds to eat. Carla, Bia and Tiago all looked on in disappointment as they saw the magpies unzip the main compartment of the bags and reveal their colourful contents.

"I hope they don't see my drawing book," whispered Bia as the magpies, ravens, Kira and Aiden and Butch the red-tailed black cockatoo proceeded to take out the selection of fruit and wolf them down. Next to them, Ilosovic, Drax, Valack, Jafar, Elektra, Morgana, Drizella and Gaston began to eat the meat of the capybara carcass. Carla's group watched on in despair as they watched the fruit they had collected then disappear down the throats of the magpies, ravens, Kira, Aiden and Butch as they greedily chomped on them.

"It just so happens that you lot seemed to be carrying this fruit," said Butch with his beak-ful, "It makes a great meal for us."

"Yeah, without having to go through all the hassle of finding it ourselves," said Kira with a mouthful as well. Aiden and the corvids all tittered in agreement and continued shoving more fruit down their throats, juice staining the feathers around their beaks. Velocity flashed a glance at Ilosovic's group while they ate and worked on freeing Milo from the tether connecting him to the tree trunk. Titan's aqua blue and yellow feathers bristled at the gluttonous manners of the two macaws, cockatoo and corvids.

"They're not magpies, ravens or parrots," he growled disgustedly, "They're mag-pigs, glutto-vens and gannets."

"My favourite fruit," groaned Mimas in despair as she watched Butch shove down a whole peach, juice smearing his facial feathers.

"They certainly are gannets alright," muttered Ganymede. "In fact, even gannets have better table manners than they do."

Titan shot Ganymede a slight glare. Kira then shoved down an entire bunch of berries and pulled out the empty stalk. Next to them, the meat-eating birds' eating was no better. Morgana and Jafar's cheeks were full of meat from the capybara, like a squirrel's cheeks full of nuts.

"Those meat-eaters also seem to have questionable eating manners as well," muttered Brooke.

"It's true we may have been messy eaters when we were young chicks," said Phoebe, "But we rarely eat like that now."

Phoebe suddenly flinched as a loud burp erupted Kira's mouth, her head shaking to the loudness of the noise. Phoebe then flashed Tiago a look. "His table manners are even better than theirs as well."

"Are you saying I have bad table manners?" snapped Tiago. Azul frowned at him.

"You sometimes burped or passed gas when you were younger, pal, or even talk with your mouthful," he said. Tiago just shot him a protesting glare as if to say 'I do not have bad table manners!'. Azul then flinched as Aiden released a loud burp. More loud burps erupted from the corvids and ravens and Butch's burp was so loud that it sounded like an earthquake. The noise sent shivers coursing through the bodies of Carla's group, making them shake. Tiago's look creased into a disgusted look. Though he sometimes did have bad manners, even Tiago found the eating manners of Ilosovic's group totally repulsive. At least his manners weren't as bad as that lot. Velocity then shot the red-tailed black-cockatoo a disgusted look and then resumed freeing Oberon and Miranda, using her sharp talons to cut through the thread before moving on to the next one. Aiden then flashed a glance at Carla's group with bulging, chipmunk-like cheeks packed full of guava.

"Hey, Butch," he said with his mouthful, "Do you think we should allow those newcomers to have some fruit?"

Butch stole a glance at Carla and her group and smiled. "You know, that's a good idea," he said. At this, Lavender snapped.

"No thank you," she growled, her lilac feathers bristled and her ponytail flaring out, "I don't want to eat with birds with questionable eating manners."

"You know, we've seen gannets eat far better than you lot," muttered Triton. Next to him, Neytiri continued hiding behind Blueberry and Charon, obviously not liking Ilosovic's group, especially the heavily muscled Butch and Gaston, especially the latter. Birds of prey with an enormously burly build always frightened her for they often reminded her of harpy eagles, and Gaston certainly did have a lot of meat on his bones. Not to mention his razor-sharp beak and talons, and a piercing stare that was intimidating enough to send shivers down anyone's spines if they look directly into it. Carla then flashed a glance at Velocity and saw that she had freed some of the birds and was in the process of freeing Charon. When she noticed this, an idea entered her head. Turning to Kira and Aiden while they were still stuffing their faces on the fruit with Butch, the ravens and the magpies, while the meat-eating birds including Ilosovic continued downing the meat from the capybara carcass, Carla asked, "So what exactly will we be doing when we join you?"

Kira, with her cheeks bulging with fruit, nodded to Ilosovic to answer the question, so he turned to Carla.

"Have you not been paying attention to our intro song?" he asked with a piece of meat in his claws.

"I didn't hear much of the lyrics," replied Carla cleverly. Tiago and Bia smiled at their older sister for this move while Velocity freed Blueberry and Neytiri before moving on to Triton's tether. Those that had been freed then cleverly positioned themselves to conceal Velocity's work and the broken tethers. Ilosovic then paced towards Carla, still eating the piece of meat and sat down.

"You will be viciously attacking humans," he said with his right eye narrowed, "How, you will find out once we go out into a town to find a group of them."

"Where do you normally roam?" asked Bia.

"All over South America," replied Ilosovic, "We're currently in Guyana at the moment but we will be returning to Brazil once we have finished our meals."

"Why do you attack humans and other animals?" asked Tiago. Ilosovic hardened his gaze.

"We mostly go for humans because they cause us nothing but trouble," he growled. He nodded to Kira and Aiden as they continued eating. "Those two over there had lost their entire families to smugglers. They were only very young chicks when we found them, so we took them under our wing. Both come from the jungle near Rio, Brazil."

Carla, Bia and Tiago and the rest all flinched in shock at this. Ilosovic continued.

"We taught them how to fly, provided for them and raised them. And when they were old enough, we told them how evil humans are and why they deserve to be viciously attacked."

Ilosovic then nodded to the other birds and added, "Those other gang members had also faced a traumatising ordeal at the hands of humans, as had I. Valack," he nodded to the barn owl, "Lost his entire home to a fire and his parents perished. Jafar, Drizella, Elektra and Morgana faced a terrible ordeal with loggers, and Butch was badly mistreated by an owner. The ravens and magpies, however, have a more complicated history but they, too, suffered negatively at the hands of humans."

Ilosovic then turned to look at Carla and her group, "And as for me and Gaston, we were also victims of smugglers. We lost family members and everything we had thanks to those pesky poachers, and since then, we have developed a bitter hatred of those two-legged menaces and decided to cause them trouble, even if they treat animals nicely."

When Carla and her group heard this, disgust tore through them.

"So you attack humans based on a deep-seated grudge against them?" asked Justin with a frown, "Even if they are well-meaning?"

"But not all humans are evil," said Matilda, "There are some who care about us animals and even work to conserve endangered species. Our tribes and clans back in Brazil had been saved from eradication by loggers thanks to a group of humans who set our homes up as a sanctuary…" Matilda's face fell briefly as she remembered the danger the Sanctuary de Amazon was in. "And not only that, there are people who also care for the animals they keep as pets…"

As she said this, Velocity sneakily cut through the tethers attaching Carla, Bia and Tiago to the tree trunk while Phoebe, Azul and Alessandro (who were now free), standing in such a way to conceal Velocity's work from Ilosovic. Velocity also listened to Ilosovic to further cover up her work.

"And what about other animals?" asked Virgil, "What do you mean you cause them trouble?"

"Ah, that's just for fun," said Ilosovic, his wings up and eye closed, "It's just a part of us being a gang. We love to play pranks on other animals, especially birds," he opened his right eye, "but we also look for new recruits and it turns out that you lot are suitable."

Velocity then cut through the tethers holding Jojo, Lavender, Virgil, Matilda and Justin to the tree trunk with her claws and then set to Ganymede, Io, Estelle, Sheldon and Alexandre. She fought against the stress threatening to breach her façade of interest and continued on her work. Then suddenly, a sound of thunder rumbled in the sky and the first drops of rain began. Ilosovic, at this, looked around at up at the sky. The sky was swamped with dark grey clouds, and night had come over the jungle.

"Oh, boy," murmured Ilosovic, "Looks like the rain has come and it had become dark."

He turned to face Carla and company and said, "It's time for you lot to come with us to find some shelter before the rain becomes heavier. I'm afraid you can forget the reasons why you came here and come along with us, you lot."

Carla, at this, winced in revulsion at this idea while the rest glared back at the frigatebird in disgust. Then Ilosovic turned his back on Carla and the others and walked over to his group.

"Okay, boys and girls, it's time to pack up. The rain's just begun," he said. Velocity then cut through the tethers holding the red macaws to the tree trunk and quickly moved over to Mimas, Brooke and Titan's tethers.

"Hurry, Velocity," whispered Io, "We're running out of time."

"I'm working as fast as I can," snapped Velocity as she cut through the threads with her claws, "Just don't pressurise me."

Carla then smiled at the young falcon.

"I'm so glad that you have come along, Velocity," she said, "I wonder what we would do without you."

Velocity continued cutting through the tethers of the three blue-and-gold macaws, which were the final birds to be freed and then snapped the three strings.

"There, finished," she said.

"Good job," said Jojo. He then flashed a glance at the gangsters as they continued talking. "Let's get outa here before those guys turn round."

"But the two bags…" began Neytiri when she saw the two emptied bags lying beside the magpies and ravens.

"Just forget about them," said Tiago, "Our main focus is to get outa here."

Bia also reluctantly went along. Her precious drawing book and pencils were in one of those bags but since they were so close to the talking gangsters, she had no choice but to leave it. At least they had their fanny packs still on them. Then making careful sure that the gangsters were engrossed with talking, the group of 27 birds began to tiptoe away.

"I think we should wait until morning," said Butch the red-tailed black cockatoo, gazing at the cloudy night sky, "It is getting late after all."

"I look forward to seeing our new recruits cause trouble," said Morgana, her black wings clasped with glee. Then a thought came to her. "Which reminds me; how many birds are there in that group."

"We never counted," said Kira, "We were too engrossed in introducing ourselves to them."

"Then we'd better start counting them," said Ilosovic. The group of gangsters then turned round to face Carla's group. However, when they had done so, they realised that Carla and her group were separate from the tree trunk. The tethers holding the birds to the trunk had been severed and half of the strings attached to the tree lay like a tangle of tiny snakes at the foot of the trunk. At this, Ilosovic and his gang's eyes travelled to a group of multi-coloured macaws, falcon and cockatoo as they tried sneaking away.

"Ah-HAH!" screeched Ilosovic. At this, Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with the others, all whipped their heads up and gazed at the gangsters.

"Uh-oh," murmured Carla.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15- vicious chases and stormy conditions**

Carla, Bia and Tiago stood there in the middle of a step, frozen in horror, their dreaded eyes fixed on the stunned and dumbfounded gangsters led by Ilosovic the frigatebird. Next to Carla and her brother and sister, Jojo, Lavender, Virgil, Matilda and Justin were alarmed, Jojo and Lavender's Roberto-like crest feathers and ponytail flaring out. Io, Ganymede, Estelle, Alexandre and Sheldon, Mimas, Titan, Brooke and Miranda and Oberon, gripped by fear that the group had been spotted, had frozen with one talon in the air. Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri, Azul, Phoebe, Triton, Alessandro, Milo and Velocity also froze mid-step. Milo's vermillion and yellow banded crest was flared and the eyes of the 27 birds were wide with dread with bring spotted. Then Ilosovic's eyes travelled from the pieces of string that lay snaking over each other from the bundle wrapped around the tree trunk to the severed tethers tied to each foot of the macaws, peregrine falcon and cockatoo, before realisation washed over him and his gang members.

"Where do you lot think you're going!?" asked Ilosovic angrily.

"Not sneaking off, are we?" asked Morgana.

"You know you belong with us now," said Butch, his black crest raised. The magpies and ravens all tittered in agreement. At this, Carla shot the gangster group a furious glare.

"We don't have time for meaningless palaver, you lot," she snapped, "We have a huge mission to complete."

"We told you that's not IMPORTANT NOW!" retorted Ilosovic, his single green eye flaring like a green flame and his sleek black feathers bristling.

"You're to join our gang," said Jafar, Elektra and Valack flanking him, poised to pounce onto Carla's group.

"And then what?" Tiago rhetorically asked, "Go around causing humans trouble by attacking them for no reason at all, I think not."

"Not to mention cause trouble for other animals," added Matilda, "We always avoid crowds like that."

"Now do us a favour and let us GO!" growled Justin. The others all shouted in agreement. However, the determined looks on Ilosovic and his gang's faces to get Carla and company to join their group remained.

"You leave us no choice," said the frigatebird threateningly, "Now return to your tree or face our fury."

"Face your furry?" said Neytiri timidly, her head tipped to one side.

"Not 'furry'," snapped Ilosovic, "FURY! Fee-yuur-reee, get it!?"

"And like we've said in our introductory song," said Kira, "If you anger us, you're in deep trouble."

Gaston, Butch and Drizella backed this statement up by flexing their muscles or showing their talons. Neytiri whimpered and ducked behind Miranda and Oberon. Then Velocity boldly stepped forward and flared her sharp talons.

"You dare attack us," she growled, "And some more of you will be receiving some nasty marks like those first three magpies."

At this, Gaston stepped forward and flared his large claws. The black eagle was almost twice the size of Velocity and his claws were much, much larger, making Velocity's claws small fry in comparison.

"I think you ought to reconsider that statement, falcon," snapped Gaston condescendingly. Velocity, intimidated by the size of the massive eagle, his strength and the size of his claws, felt shivers course down her spine. Whimpering, she retreated to Carla's group and hid behind Ganymede and Io.

"I don't like this group," she whispered to the two scarlet macaws, "Not only are they dangerous in their attitude, but they are also dangerous in their weaponry."

Ganymede and Io shot her a look.

"Look, for the last time," snapped Carla, her temper starting to boil now, "WE DON'T WANNA JOIN YOUR GROUP!"

That did it. Ilosovic's own temper then cracked like thunder. Tiago, however, found a pile of wet mud.

"Wish granted," snarled the frigatebird and with that, he nodded to his underlings, ravens and magpies and the group all launched at Carla and her group. Tiago quickly picked up a talon-ful of wet mud and hurled it at the charging gangster birds, splattering Valack in the face and sending him flying out of control. As the barn owl careened away and slammed into a patch of ferns, the others charged on but Carla and her group had already lofted into flight. Titan, Mimas, Brooke, Io, Ganymede, Estelle, Sheldon, Miranda and Oberon veered round a tree, seized the two bags by the straps and took off with them. Then Carla's group began to fly like the wind. However, above the forest in the sky, the rainstorm's gates had already opened to the point of torrential downpour but Carla and company did not care about that. They had to get away from the wicked frigatebird and his gang who had already lofted into flight after them. Valack followed as soon as he had recovered from his crash and cleared his face of the mud. As the 25 macaws, peregrine falcon and cockatoo increased their height and began to fly through the canopy, their bodies flooded with adrenaline, Ilosovic and his gang gave chase. The frigatebird nodded to some magpies, Kira and Morgana and said, "Get some vines and see if you can lasso them."

The group of birds nodded and seized the first vines they laid their eyes on. Then the female Spix macaw, black caracara and the magpies rocketed after Carla's group, tied a loop in the ends of their vines and began to try and throw the looped end at Carla's group to ensnare them. However, some of Carla's group had already armed themselves, ready for a counterattack for they still had some fruit and meat in their fanny packs. As Morgana closed in behind Phoebe and Azul, her vine-lasso poised to throw at the Lear's and blue-throated macaws, Phoebe tossed an apple at her. The apple careened towards Morgana and bopped her on the head. The caracara cried in shock and lost control of her flight, her lasso flying out and ensuring one of the magpies instead. Then the two careened through the canopy and crashed into Butch and Gaston, much to Ilosovic's enraged frustration. Then Kira and the other magpies honed in on Jojo, Lavender, Virgil, Matilda and Justin and prepared to fire her looped vine at one of them. However, Jojo prepared to throw a pineapple at her when he froze when he saw the female Spix macaw.

"I don't fight girls," muttered Jojo. Kira, a sneering smile on her beak, threw the lasso at Jojo and ensnared him by the neck, making Jojo bolt as the choking loop tightened, much to the alarm of the others.

"I can see why, floppy feather head," crooned Kira nastily. Suddenly, a light purple blur shot in and tackled her in the side.

"YOU LET MY BROTHER GO, YOU MINX!" snarled Lavender as she knocked Kira away, making her release her vine lasso and freeing Jojo. Then Aiden the glaucous macaw flew in and dived in at Lavender but a blue and grey blur shot in and tackled him away. Then Aiden and Blueberry entered into a vicious fight with beaks connecting to feathers, claws wildly tearing and enraged squawks exploding from their beaks. While the two glaucous macaws fought, Carla and her group slowed down and prepared the remains of their fruit and in Velocity's case, her chicken and duck.

"Ready, guys," shouted Carla, "GO!"

And with that, colourful missiles flew out of the talons of Carla's group and flew straight towards Ilosovic and his group. Apples, guavas and other hard fruit bounced off the faces and upper bodies of the birds and one of them hit Ilosovic square in the forehead, making him yelp in pain. Softer fruit such as berries, however, splattered against their targets. One of them flew from Tiago's talons and struck Gaston square in the face, blinding him. The black eagle cried in shock and began to try and clear his eyes of the blue juice but he crashed into Drax the fulmar and the two crashed into a tree. However, they recovered quickly and were airborne within seconds after Gaston had cleared his eyes of the juice. Velocity then scored a bullseye on Drizella by striking her in the head with a chicken leg. The horned owl who had a bratty personality then began to erupt into a tantrum. Screaming like a baby owl, she began to throw a fit. The magpies and ravens also dodged the incoming missiles flying from Carla and her group's talons but soon, the group will have to resume their escape.

As soon as she had run out of fruit, Carla blew a loud whistle, calling for the others to retreat. At the signal, the others, including Blueberry, stopped their skirmish with Ilosovic's group and made a break for it, but it wasn't easy for the rain was now very heavy. Lightning flashed in the sky, lighting the scene in a few split-second blinks and cracking the air with a loud bang and raindrops pelted against the group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo but because they were blinded by desperation, Carla and her group continued to fly on through the canopy, a flock of colourful comets as they rushed through the green trees, Ilosovic and his gang in hot pursuit. However, both groups were about to face a third party, one consisting of the most frightening predatory bird in the entire Amazon rainforest. As Carla and her group continued their desperate escape, their wings beating at a fast rate despite the aches setting into their muscles, suddenly heard a loud and piercing cry. At this, Ganymede shouted, "What was that?"

"Was that you, Velocity?" asked Virgil.

"No, it wasn't," said Velocity. Behind Carla's group, Ilosovic's group also heard the noise.

"What was that loud cry?" asked Kira. Ilosovic told her to hush as he scanned the dark and rainy canopy with his single eye. Gaston, Jafar, Valack, Drizella, Elektra, Morgana, Butch and Drax and the ravens and magpies all looked around as well, eyes wide with alarm. Then Aiden, his body covered in a few scratches and bald patches from his skirmish with Blueberry, flew in.

"I'm sure it's… a loud falcon cry… from… the trees?" murmured the glaucous macaw warily. Ilosovic was about to reply when suddenly, loud shrieks of horror erupted from the beaks of some of the ravens and magpies. At this, all heads in Ilosovic's group, and those in Carla's group as well, darted in the direction of the magpies and ravens' gaze and, to their horror, they saw two massive shapes emerge from through the rainy canopy. They were eagle-shaped but they were larger than Gaston. The two large birds swooped in and charged into Ilosovic's group, making them scatter. At this, Carla and her group slowed down to look at the two eagles as the gangster group dispersed like a frightened shoal of fish. The birds were massive, far larger than an adult hyacinth macaw with a wingspan four times as large as one. Their backs were slate grey like Velocity's parents' back plumage and their undersides were white. Crests flared on the backs of their heads and on the ends of their heads were large moon-like eyes and sharp, cruel looking beaks. The talons of the creatures were armed with lethal, fish-hook like claws. These claws were three or four times the size of Velocity's claws, and they were long, sharp, capable of disembowelling a monkey or even a macaw. Velocity and Milo had never seen birds like these two but they, along with Velocity's brother Orion, and Milo's siblings Rosa, Eustace and friends Serena and Clemont, had been told about these birds, and Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others with them and their friends and siblings back home had also been told about these dangerous birds by their elders and parents. These birds normally hunted capybaras and monkeys, but they also sometimes hunted feathered meals such as macaws. Because they were the apex aerial predator of the rainforest, they were greatly feared by all the birds of the Amazon, and even most of the flying foxes often avoided them. The pair of eagles appeared to be a mating pair, for one of them was smaller than the other. Based on what she had read in an ecology book, Bia deduced that the smaller of the two was a male while the big one was female.

"I didn't know harpy eagles lived THIS far to the north," cried Io in utter disbelief, "I-I-I always thought they were restricted to areas in Brazil and Peru and the countries further south."

"No, they can be found in Central America too," said Ganymede. Suddenly, alarm exploded through Carla's group when Titan cried, "Look OUUUUT!"

At this, Carla's group immediately scattered as a huge feathered shape swooped at them, crying loudly. Its talons slashed through the air only to miss their targets. Behind Carla's group, the smaller male continued wreaking havoc for Ilosovic's group, Ilosovic and his gang trying desperately to drive the creature away. As the other harpy eagle, the female, turned round for another attack on Carla's group, Carla, Bia and Tiago saw her large moon-like eyes. They were flooded with hunger, which meant only one thing.

"It and its mate are on the hunt," cried Matilda, "We'd better get outa here, FAST!"

Suddenly, talons latched onto her wing and pulled her down as the harpy eagle's massive talons slashed at her, only to miss at the last second. Matilda gasped as Estelle pulled her down, her heart beating wildly. Velocity shuddered violently, her large eyes filled with terror as she examined the size of the massive bird, especially her talons. It was obvious that she would be killed outright if she ever attempted to challenge a bird like this one to a battle, as those talons could also easily break even a super-fast peregrine falcon's spine or crush its skull.

Then the harpy eagle flew off to turn round for another attempt.

"It's a bit unusual for a pair of harpy eagles to be hunting in this weather and time of day," said Alessandro, shaking his head to rid the rainwater collected in his feathers.

"They must have spotted or heard us and decided to go after us while we were fleeing that gang of birds," said Sheldon as he hovered with Io, Ganymede, Estelle and Alexandre.

"Never mind about that, let's just get outa here before one of us gets caught," shouted Carla and with that, the group charged on, those carrying the two bags desperately clinging on to them as they flew. However, the female eagle began to chase them. Back with Ilosovic's group, Ilosovic and his gang had also retreated as the male eagle proved to be more than a match for them, even for the muscular Gaston and Butch. However, they pursued Carla's group. Like his mate, the male eagle was also driven by hunger and it seemed to see the magpies, the ravens, Kira, Aiden and Butch, or perhaps even some of the meat-eating birds as a tasty meal for it and its mate's dinner. Ilosovic and his gang continued rocketing on with the male eagle in hot pursuit. The eagle then raised its talons and attempted to slash at Butch with them but they missed by inches, making Butch panic and fly on. The wild chase between Carla's group and the female eagle and Ilosovic's group and the male eagle then began to continue for a frightening while. Rain continued pouring from the thunderous sky and it was proving difficult to fly through the dark jungle and the rain. As Carla's group flew on, they weaved in and out of the branches, desperately trying to keep out of the rain for parrots and falcons cannot fly well with sodden feathers. The female harpy eagle lashed its talons at Virgil but Bia pulled him out of the way by grabbing his wing, resulting in a narrow miss of the claws within inches of Virgil's stomach. Then the harpy eagle lashed its claws at the red, blue-and-gold and green macaws, going for Miranda but Mimas tackled her out of the way, the eagle's claws catching her tail and causing two cerulean and yellow feathers to fall into the rainy air. The eagle tried again but its third claw swipe also missed, narrowly missing Jojo and Lavender's heads and catching a lilac feather from Lavender's ponytail pulling it away, much to her utter shock and terror.

"Those eagles certainly don't know when to give up, do they!?" shouted Jojo, "They must be really determined to get their beaks and claws into us."

"Just shut up and fly!" shouted Carla as the eagle swiped its claws at Phoebe only to miss, making her shriek. Near Carla's group, the male eagle continued its pursuit of Ilosovic's group, wildly slashing his claws at the magpies, the ravens, Morgana, Valack and at times Kira and Aiden.

"When are those pesky giant buzzards gonna break off their chase!?" snarled Butch angrily.

"We didn't need these two oversized vultures interrupting our chase of that group over there!" shouted Drax, referring to Carla's group. Then the eagle lashed its claws again and this time, the claws made their mark on one of Ilosovic's group members. However, that target was Aiden and the claws made contact with his wing, but the glaucous macaw was not close enough for the slash to be life-threatening and instead, the claws only inflicted a light scratch, but it was still enough to cripple him. As Aiden felt searing pain explode from his right wing where the claws of the eagle made contact, he screeched and began to lose control of his flight and then plummet through the canopy towards the forest floor and sent Ilosovic's group flying into chaos. Aiden's cries of pain alerted Carla's group as they continued dodging the female eagle's claw slashes, one of them inflicting a small scratch on Azul's back, making him cry in pain and terror.

"I'VE BEEN HIT!" cried the panicked blue-throated macaw, "I'VE BEEN HIT!"

Then it was Carla's group's turn to fly into chaos as extreme panic and terror exploded within them. Then what happened next shocked everyone. As Carla's group scattered, a dark brown and ivory blur shot in and, with a slash of her small-fry talons, she inflicted a scratch across the eagle's face. The eagle cried in surprise as Velocity then began to unleash her fury on the bird of prey despite being only a quarter the size of the monster. The instinctive urge to protect her herself and her friends had volcanically erupted thanks to the pressure of desperation that had been building up inside her all this time.

"VELOCITY, are you MAD!?" bellowed Bia in flabbergast. Velocity, however, was too blinded by fury to even hear Bia's shocked cry. With an enraged screech, the peregrine falcon began to score her claws on the harpy eagle's back, drawing blood in the process.

"Oh, NO!" cried Jojo in terror as he watched the scene, "You'll be killed!"

The other macaw sand Milo also watched horror as Velocity continued brutally scoring her claws over the harpy eagle's back. Her beak then closed onto the eagle's crest as the eagle, crying and screaming in agony, began to bolt and thrash like a mad bull. One of the thrashes then flung Velocity into the air, but she pulled some feathers from the eagle's crest. Then Velocity found herself at the mercy of the enraged eagle.

"Someone, DO SOMETHING," cried Jojo and without thinking, he charged in and jumped onto the eagle's back.

"JOJO!" cried Lavender and with that, she rocketed in and attacked the eagle as well. The eagle screeched and cried as the two Spix macaws then began to attack her back, Velocity jumping onto her neck. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Matilda and Justin then exchanged glances, all terror replaced by determination to drive away this big bird, before joining in the fray. Then Ganymede, Io, Estelle, Sheldon, Alexandre, and Titan, Mimas, Brooke, and Oberon and Miranda rocketed in, followed by Azul despite his back scratch which oozed a bit of blood, Phoebe, Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri, Milo, Triton and Alessandro. Soon the harpy eagle was smothered by a colourful cloud of blue, red, green, yellow, grey and orange feathers, and a splash of brown and white from Velocity and pale pink-white with a vermillion and yellow splotch from Milo. The macaws, cockatoos and falcon then began to work together to mercilessly claw and bite the eagle to drive it away, while some beat the eagle with the two bags. The eagle screeched and writhed to shake off the blanket but the group continued their relentless attack. Meanwhile, Ilosovic and his gang had also launched a group attack against the male eagle. However, theirs was not as co-ordinated as Carla's group and the gangster members kept being thrown off. Drax tried head-butting the eagle but the eagle dodged and slashed its claws at him, narrowly missing Drax's torso as lightning flashed in the sky, and the ravens and magpies kept being thrown everywhere. Then Gaston flew in and slashed the eagle's back with his claws. The male eagle screeched and cried as the others then piled on top of it and began to beat it up. The eagle then began to lash its talons and bite at its attackers and one of the slashes of its talons caught Kira on the torso. Screeching in agony, the Spix macaw plummeted like a stone towards the forest floor through the canopy while the others continued attacking the eagle, unaware that Kira had been injured.

Meanwhile, Carla and her group continued viciously attacking the female eagle until Charon delivered the final blow by clawing it right across the face. The eagle, stunned by the attack, then gave up its hunt and retreated into the rainy canopy, its tattered grey and white plumage bloodied and slashed with bleeding scratches. Carla's group, puffing and panting and covered in a few scratches, the worst being Azul's scratched back, saw it leave.

"That'll teach that beast not to mess with us when we've got an important trip to carry out," said Io smugly. Carla then shot a glance at Ilosovic and his group as they finally drove off the male eagle. At this, she commanded the others the dive into the canopy, which they did. Moments after all 27 birds disappeared straight down into the canopy and to the forest floor, Ilosovic and his gang flew in. however, they were missing two members, Kira and Aiden. Puffing and panting and shaking off excess rainwater collected in their feathers, the gangsters began to examine the surroundings, looking for Carla and her group.

"Can you see them anywhere, guys?" asked Ilosovic. Drax, Morgana, Drizella, Elektra, Gaston, Valack and Butch and the magpies and ravens flew around looking for any splash of colour. However, the pouring rain and the dark night was making it a serious challenge.

"Can't we wait until tomorrow morning?" asked Drax.

"Honestly, our feathers are becoming soaked," said Morgana.

"Especially yours, Ilosovic," said Gaston, "And since you frigatebirds don't like wet feathers, you might as well call off the search."

"Especially after that skirmish with those eagles," said Elektra, "It really has taken a lot out of us."

The other birds also looked at Ilosovic with the same begging look. Ilosovic gazed back at them for a while until finally, he said, "Okay then. Let's find somewhere to spend the night and when the rain finishes."

The other birds, at this, smiled at this suggestion and with that, Ilosovic and his gang flew away to look for shelter to spend the night. As the frigatebird and his mixed gang left, Miranda who had been watching the group from a cluster of leaves, saw them disappear into the rainy canopy.

"They've gone, Carla," she said. At this, Carla and the others, who had been hiding in concealed on the forest floor, rose into the canopy. Oberon was treating Azul's scratch with moss and a leaf. Esmeralda, his and Miranda's mother, had taught him and his four sisters the basics of treating injuries and what plants to use, especially for scratches and grazes, and that moss was one of the best plants to treat blooded wounds for it had excellent absorption properties. Azul winced as Oberon dabbed the moss on his scratch, making Oberon apologise.

"Good," said Carla smugly. Then Velocity breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was two close calls," she said, "Glad we escaped them."

"Let's get out of here and get as far away from those gangsters as much as possible," said Carla.

"What? In this weather and the dark?" said Tiago with a disbelieving look.

"I'm sorry, T," said Carla firmly, "But if we stay here, that frigatebird and his gang might find us and I don't want to see their faces again."

"That's right," put in Ganymede in agreement, "We managed to escape them now but the next time we meet them, we might not stand a chance."

Tiago sighed when suddenly; Alessandro saw something move on the forest floor.

"Guys, look," he said, pointing to the splotch of blue through the green leaves, "Isn't that the Spix macaw from Ilosovic's gang?"

At this, the other macaws, Velocity and Milo followed his point and saw the blue splotch.

"It is," said Bia. The blue splotch, which were Kira the Spix macaw and Aiden the glaucous macaw, were struggling through the canopy. Kira was clutching her scratched torso while Aiden was struggling to fly due to his injured wing, but he still helped Kira get to safety.

"Ilosovic," cried Aiden through the stormy rainforest, lightning flashing in the sky, "Morgana, Butch! GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Kira was in too much pain and her face was twisted as she clutched her bleeding scratch. It was not too deep but it was still very painful. Just then the sounds of multiple wing-flaps reached the two macaws' ears. At this, Aiden and Kira turned and when they saw the owners of the wing flap sounds, they flinched in shock.

"Here, let us help you," said Jojo, a wing extending to the two macaws. Miranda also had some moss ready to treat Kira's wound. Aiden and Kira, however, wore scowls on their faces.

"No, leave us alone," snapped Aiden hostilely, "We would rather DIE in this dark jungle than to be saved by you!"

"Yeah, go away," snarled Kira, wincing from her painful scratch. Jojo eyed the other macaws and Velocity and Milo and said, "Well, what would you guys rather do?"

Carla, at this, rolled her eyes and nodded to Velocity. The peregrine falcon then took off, wrapped her talons around Kira's body against Aiden's protests and then placed her beside Miranda. Bia and Blueberry then began to examine Aiden's injured wing but he snatched it from them while Kira crawled away from Miranda as she held some moss.

"Are you deaf or sommat!?" snarled Kira.

"We said we don't need your help," growled Aiden, his azure feathers raised. He winced from his scratched wing and grasped it.

"Well, you're getting it, so there," said Io with narrowed eyes, "Now let Bia look at your injured wing."

However, Aiden refused to allow Bia anywhere near her.

"My wing's fine," snapped the feisty glaucous macaw, "It's just a bit of a scratch."

"But you're struggling to fly with it," said Ganymede. He then looked at Kira, "And she's been injured. If we leave you two here, you could die."

"And besides that, you both are part of two rare species," put in Justin. Kira, at this, shot him a glare.

"What's it to you, buffoon?" she snapped obnoxiously. Her eyes then travelled to Carla. "And it looks like you've been eating an awful lot of fruit to put on that much weight, fatso."

At this, Carla's wing rose and slapped her across the face. When Kira raised a wing to her face where Carla had hit her, stunned at the slap, Carla's flaming green eyes fixed on her. "You say anything like that about me or call me fatso or related again and I'll tear your wing feathers out!"

Justin also stepped forward, his amber eyes which he had got from Venus on fire as well. He loathed derogatory remarks about Carla or his friends, while Bia and Tiago and the others also shot Kira an angry glare each. Kira admitted defeat.

"Alright," she growled. Then Titan said, "So, would you and your glaucous macaw friend care to join our expedition?"

"I don't think Ilosovic and his gang really care about you," said Mimas, "They seemed to have left without a second thought."

"Look," snapped Aiden. He then paused as he examined the group. "A peregrine falcon (Velocity), a Major Mitchell's cockatoo (Milo), eight Spix macaws (Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender), five red macaws (Io, Ganymede, Sheldon, Estelle and Alexandre), three blue-and-gold macaws (Mimas, Titan and Brooke), three glaucous macaws (Neytiri, Charon and Blueberry), a Lear's macaw (Phoebe), a blue-throated macaw (Azul), a young hyacinth macaw (Triton) and a chestnut-fronted macaw (Alessandro), eh? You lot look like more of a parade than a bunch of expeditioners."

"Well," growled Blueberry, "We're going to help you regardless of what you say, brat!"

Suddenly, an azure and grey blur pounced on her, much to the shock of the others. Blueberry then found herself pinned by Aiden against a tree trunk with a talon to the throat.

"Don't you EVER," snarled Aiden, "Call me a brat."

"Sorry," replied Blueberry and with that, she tackled Aiden and pinned him against a rock face with a talon to the throat, "Brat."

Velocity glared at the two glaucous macaws and said, "I hope those two aren't going to be soppy. If they are, I'm gonna faint."

Blueberry and Aiden, at this, shot the falcon a glare. Then Carla said, "Let's just get outa here and find someplace to spend the rest of the night and until this storm ends."

"Yeah, the sooner we get away from those gangsters the better," said Tiago. The others nodded in agreement and prepared to take off. Carla shot Aiden and Kira a look, Kira, with a sulky scowl on her face, allowing Miranda to clean her scratch of blood.

"Those two will need carrying as they might not be able to fly," Carla said. This was met by stunned looks from Kira and Aide. Jojo and Lavender, at this, rolled their eyes and took off to pick up Kira and Aiden. Aiden and Kira then reluctantly allowed Lavender and Jojo to wrap their wings around their wings and pick them up. However, they were grousing and moaning sourly under their breaths. Then soon, the group was back on track.

However, after another long while of flying, the storm had worsened. The deluge had increased to a torrential downpour and winds were howling. Lightning flashed furiously in the sky with loud cracks, making the sky appear to fissure and thunder rumbled angrily. Carla and her group had flown over some shrubby forests where the canopy was sparse. Because of this, they had to fly in the stormy and windy air, which was proving to be a formidable challenge. Lavender held tightly onto Kira while Jojo carried Aiden as they flew along and the bag carriers clung onto the two bags. Streaks of rain poured onto the birds and winds threatened to send them flying out of control. It was also so dark that everything looked unrecognisable. As Carla led her group through this stormy surge, she began to regret her decision to continue. Suddenly a huge gust of wind blew some of the macaws into the others, making those bumped yell in shock, but they still pressed on. Aiden and Kira both shouted and moaned immaturely in Lavender and Jojo's talons as they were carried through the deluge and winds.

"We're gonna have to find shelter NOW!" bellowed Ganymede through the dark storm, "The storm's just too dangerous for us to fly through!"

Io then yelped as another gust of wind pushed her far to the right of the group.

"Carla, can you see anywhere where we can shelter?" called Justin, his voice just heard over the howling wind. Carla then began to scan the dark area below but because it was so dark and the rains were so thick, she could not make heads or tails of things. The other macaws, Velocity and Milo all cried in fright as the wind blue against them again and threw them to one side.

"Oh, can we please find some sort of _shelter_ _out of this nightmare_!?" barked Alexandre bitterly. The lightning flashed furiously in the sky.

"We didn't think that the storm would be THIS bad," cried Sheldon as he clung onto Io's wing. Then suddenly, another gust of wind blew and sent Miranda and Oberon crashing into the two macaws. The bag carriers struggled to hold the bags as they swung in the winds and Bia and Tiago, who helped to hold one of them, were almost blown away. But the group still struggled on. Carla's green eyes which were wracked with terror and desperation and she continued to scanning the pitch-black land below for any suitable spot to shelter. To her frustration, she could not see anything. Furthermore, the group wasn't sure how far they were in the sky, and their feathers were getting wetter every second. Soon they will be forced from the sky once their feathers become too wet, combined with the exhaustion that was beginning to set in upon the group. Then the winds began to increase in intensity and soon, they were too powerful for Carla's group to fly against it. Carla, Bia and Tiago then heard screams from someone through the pitch-black, rainy air.

"HEEEELLLLP!" cried the voice whom they recognise to be Io's.

"IO!" cried Ganymede's voice. Carla, Bias and Tiago's glance snapped in Io's direction but to their horror, they could not see her or Ganymede or any of the others at all. Then suddenly, a huge gust of wind caught them, Jojo, Lavender, Aiden, Kira, Justin and Alexandre and Azul and they began to fly out of control. The group clung onto the bag as they were sent spiralling towards earth. The bag flew and Ganymede was caught.

"HANG ON!" cried Carla as they began to fall and get tossed about in the high winds. The others obeyed and clung onto the bag and each other. The eyes of all eleven, including Kira and Aiden, were flooded with terror as they spun in the wind. Not too far away, Phoebe, Matilda, Sheldon, Brooke, Miranda, Oberon and Charon clung onto the other bag as well as they wildly flew about in the wind. As they flew past Io and Neytiri, the female scarlet and glaucous macaws both latched their beaks onto a strap of the bag and were carried away with them. The other nine, Virgil, Estelle, Mimas, Triton, Blueberry, Alessandro, Milo and Velocity, however, were blown in another direction. They had no idea where the others were, much less how far they had been blown by the wind.

"THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!" cried Mimas as she clung onto Triton and Blueberry.

"CARLA, BIA, TIAGO!" cried Virgil, "LAVENDER, JOJO, JUSTIN, MATILDA, GUYS!"

He struggled to stay aloft in the wind when suddenly, he was sent into a tailspin by a powerful gust of wind. Virgil cried out in terror as his world spun wildly around him. His stomach twisted with nausea for spinning like this made him feel sick. Then suddenly, talons latched onto his wing. At first, Virgil was alarmed but when he saw it was only Mimas, together with Triton and Blueberry; he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you have any idea of where Carla and the others are?" cried Mimas.

"No," said Virgil, "It's so dark I cannot even see a metre away."

"I can't see any of the others at all," cried Blueberry, Triton clinging for dear life onto her and Mimas.

Then suddenly, another gust of wind caught the quartet and sent them spinning wildly again. The four screamed. Velocity, who was on her own, began to look around for the others as she was also blown about by the winds.

"Guys, where are you!?" she cried, her voice almost drowned out by the screeching winds. Suddenly, the winds picked up and Velocity was violently flung into the air. She screamed as she lost control and was carried by the wind. Meanwhile, Virgil, Mimas, Triton and Blueberry continued to be blown violently by the wind when Milo, Alessandro, Estelle and Titan, who were also clinging onto each other, were blown towards them. As soon as the two groups met, they grabbed each other. The winds were now too strong and the rains too heavy for any bird to fly in and the group of eight macaws and cockatoo prepared to be blown to an unknown place. As another huge gust of wind blasted against them, the eight knew they were about to be sent flying through the air again.

"HANG OOON!" cried Virgil and then the eight all screamed as they spun wildly as the wind carried them through the stormy, dark air.

Meanwhile, Carla's subgroup had managed to find a small cave in a patch of forest. As the storm went from bad to worse, the group of eleven touched down clumsily and then hastily scrabbled for the cave, pulling the bag with them. As soon as they were inside, out of the rain and had begun to shake their sodden feathers of the rainwater as well as wring their wet fanny packs and the bag, Carla said, "It's far too dangerous. We're gonna have to wait until the storm passes and when morning comes."

"Trust us to fly through a storm like that," muttered Bia.

"This'll be a lesson we'll never forget," muttered Tiago. He then felt exhaustion set in and he released a huge yawn. Jojo, Lavender, Aiden, Kira, Justin, Alexandre and Azul, however, had just collapsed onto the cave floor, too tired to moan anything. The enormity of stress they had been through with Ilosovic and his gang, being chased by two harpy eagles and flying through the storm had taken its toll on them. Then within moments, sleep came over them. Azul tiredly gazed out into the stormy outside.

"I hope the others are alright," he moaned. Carla, Bia and Tiago just dropped against the cave wall as tiredness took hold and within moments, they had drifted off to slumber land. Azul crept by them and within moments, he followed suite. Phoebe's group had managed to take shelter in a large tree hollow and as soon as Phoebe, Matilda, Io, Sheldon, Miranda, Oberon, Triton and Neytiri had settled into it with the other bag, they only had enough energy to shake their feathers and wring their fanny packs of the excess rainwater before dropping one-by-one from exhaustion. Then within moments, sleep enveloped them as well. They will go out and look for the others tomorrow morning and when the storm had ended.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16- strange creatures**

Meanwhile, Virgil's group continued to be blown about by the vicious wind. Virgil, Estelle, Mimas, Triton, Blueberry, Alessandro, Milo and Titan continued clinging on to each other as they whirled and spun violently in the deluge and high winds, lightning crackling terrifyingly in the sky and breaking the darkness briefly with a few flashes of light. None of the eight birds daren't let go of the others for they would be blown away into the wilderness, separate from the rest. In their terror, the eight macaws and cockatoo had no idea where they were, where the others were or how far they had been blown by the wind. The group was completely engulfed by extreme fear and terror, both outside and in. It was the worst nightmare the eight had ever faced. Worse than the deranged Nigel, worse than the fire, worse than the poachers. In Virgil, Titan and Mimas's minds, memories of the fire flashed through their minds when they had been caught by it during a stargazing outing all those years ago, when they had been chicks, and Alessandro's mind also flared with the fire for he had only been a chick under flight age when the fire ripped through the forest. His parents had carried him to safety with the other chestnut-fronted macaw group members when it happened. Also, thoughts about the others, their parents and their siblings and friends back home flashed through their minds. Virgil thought about Venus and Zephyr, and Charlotte and Triton thought about Indigo, Neptune and Ultramarine, while Titan and Mimas thought about Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus. Milo thought of Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont and Serena while Blueberry thought of Quincy, Flor, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and of course everyone else, their outside family friends. They wouldn't want them to face something like this, but who cares? The eight continued huddling each other, hoping that the wild ride would soon end. They also hoped that they would never ever face such a ride or anarchic nightmare like this again.

The eight birds continued to fly wildly and uncontrollably through the stormy air when suddenly, the wind dropped in speed. Then the next thing Virgil and the other seven knew was they were falling down towards earth. However, they still remained tightly hugged together, too frightened to let go and fly. Their feathers were sodden wet and they were exhausted from all that had happened in the past few hours. From meeting a group of gangster birds, narrowly escaping them and a pair of harpy eagles and having to face this storm. It was just too much for Virgil and his subgroup and the overload of terror and adrenaline had taken its toll on them. The view of the earth below was obscured, smothered by blackness. Down the eight frightened birds went, hurtling through the rainy air and reduced wind speed. Down… down… down… until finally, something slowed their fall, but it was not a soft landing. Instead, the landing was rough and branchy. As Virgil, Estelle, Mimas, Blueberry, Alessandro, Milo, Triton and Titan fell through a stack of branches and leaves, the arms and claws of wood slashing mercilessly at their bodies, Triton accidentally let go from the shock and was torn from the others. He tumbled via a different path from the other seven but he still continued falling through the branches and leaves, which were a canopy of a jungle. Triton cried in terror, his wings over his face, protecting it from the brown claws and leaves as they slashed over his body. Virgil, Estelle, Milo, Mimas, Titan, Blueberry and Alessandro, meanwhile, continued hugging each other tightly as they fell through the canopy. The violent tumbling seemed like forever but then unexpectedly, Virgil and the other six with him were stopped in mid-air. At this, Virgil, Mimas, Estelle, Blueberry, Alessandro, Titan and Milo slowly opened their eyes and looked around and realised they were in a net of vines. However, they were too exhausted to even care. Triton, however, had a more dramatic crash. He tumbled out of the canopy and crash-landed into a patch of ferns, nothing in his path to break his fall. Triton lay there on his front in the ferns for a few moments, his lush blue feathers absolutely waterlogged from rainwater and he was soaked to the skin, trembling from the cold. Then he moved his head moved slightly. Triton then tiredly opened his eyes and lifted his head to look around. The rain was less in this area, but it was due to the canopy diluting the concentration of deluge from above. But then Triton felt exhaustion come over him and he passed out, his head collapsing onto the floor. In the tangle of vines, Virgil and the other six also began to pass out from exhaustion, but Virgil had enough strength left to cut through the vine web with his beak and when he had finished this, he and the other six dropped onto the forest floor around a metre from Triton. The group of Spix, green-winged, two blue-and-gold, glaucous and chestnut-fronted macaws and half sulfur-crested, half Major Mitchell's hybrid cockatoo were too tired to react from the thump from the impact. Virgil then scanned the surroundings before he, too, entered the world of blackness as he passed out.

The eight sodden creatures then lay there, limp, with their only movement being their chests moving up and down as they breathed. Their feathers were absolutely waterlogged, the flight feathers on their wings and tails' structures collapsed to nothing more than strips from the water. The rain pattered gently on their bodies while it continued pouring overhead. The winds continued to howl and the trees wavered in the wind. Lightning flashed in the sky in a crack, the bolts of electricity tearing up the sky like fissures of light. The dark surroundings around Virgil and his group was still, quiet and calmer than the stormy air above the treetops until something moved. A light appeared and broke through the darkness while a cluster of bushes rustled. Then several shadowy, cloaked figures, three of them in fact, emerged. The glow of light shone all around them, pushing away the darkness. Each of the three shadowy figures had a stick and on the end of each stick was a flame, like a torch, which was the source of the light. The three creatures were cloaked, their cloaks made from interwoven eaves and vines. The cloaks had a hood and a back piece which hung over the backs of the creatures, similar to how coats covered the backs of humans. The three creatures had feathers like the macaws and Milo. However, there was something odd about these feathered creatures, something different. Their wings had claws and it was these claws the creatures used to hold the torches, and their legs were not like the legs of Virgil's group. They resembled another pair of wings, feathered, complete with flight feathers, just like their fore-wings. The creatures had clawed feet but they were not like the talons of any bird species known. Three clawed toes extended from the foot of each 'hind-wing'. One curved upward like the talon of an eagle while the other two ran forward alongside the sickle, flat on the floor.

The feathered creatures had tails, but they were not like the long, flowing tail feathers like in macaws but solid tails, like a lizard's but covered with feathers. The tails, however, did end with a fan of tail feathers at the tip. The solid tails extended out from under the trailing part of the leafy cloaks and gently wavered in the air, the feathers on them also wavering with the movement of the solid part. From the hoods, gleaming eyes glowed and beneath the eyes, strange beaks extended. These beaks had a row of sharp teeth. These creatures truly were strange. When the three creatures saw the limp bodies of eight colourful winged creatures with brown things around their waists sprawled out on the floor, they looked at each other in wonder, before one of them, the largest of the three and a male, walked forward and crouched besides Virgil, moving his torch closer to his face to examine his condition. When the feathered creature saw that Virgil was breathing but unconscious, he reacted in alarm with his eyes bulging and strange beak open. He then told the two smaller creatures, which were a male and a female, to check the other seven birds. The two smaller creatures did so and saw that the other seven were breathing but unconscious as well. The female then shot the larger male with a look and gave a confirmatory nod. She said something and the big male nodded. Then the three creatures set to collecting the limp bodies of Virgil, Estelle, Mimas, Titan, Milo, Alessandro, Triton and Blueberry and once they had gathered all eight birds, the three creatures, two of which had dumped their torches by plunging them into a nearby puddle to put them out so that the big male's torch was left, then began to half-drag, half-carry the macaws and cockatoo away into the dark jungle.

 **The Sanctuary de Amazon, the Spix macaws' ravine**

Charlotte sat in her room of her family's hollow, staring despondently into the darkness of the night air hanging over the ravine, lit by the silvery shafts of moonlight. Unlike in Guyana, the weather was calm though the night sky was patchily cloudy. It had been well over three days since Carla's group had left, and those that had chosen to remain behind had been struggling with the burden of sadness, worry and concern, and another thing. Charlotte deeply missed her two brothers and sister, two cousins and Carla, Bia and Tiago, and the others with them, and the decision to remain behind was proving a very difficult path to take. Charlotte sometimes wished she would have gone with the others but she knew that Zephyr and Venus, her parents, would become very worried. Someone, after all, had to stay back and keep watch while Carla's group was in Guyana, searching for the legendary habitat of the bizarre birds and the treasure deposit, which Zephyr, Venus and the rest of the group's parents and elders had dismissed as merely a fabricated story. Charlotte's mind was flooded with all kinds of things Carla and her group could be facing right now. What if they had run into a group of poachers, or caught by a predator? Charlotte daren't imagine these scenarios. She just hoped that Carla's group would come back in one piece, with some of the treasure, from their quest.

As Charlotte thought about these things, her cerulean feathers shining in the moonlight, two figures suddenly appeared, blocking off the stream of moonlight. Charlotte, at this, miserably looked up at the figures, which were Felix and __Músculo. The two male macaws had sneaked out their parents' hollows (Brisa and Roberto's for Felix) to visit Charlotte to check on her.

"Are you alright, Charlotte?" asked Felix. Charlotte gazed at her cousin.

"Missing my three siblings and the others," she murmured sadly. Felix breathed a sigh and brushed his multi-layered Roberto-like crest while Músculo just bowed his head.

"You're not alone," said Felix, "I miss my brother and sister and the others too."

"Same here," said Músculo, "Tyler and Ricardo had been talking about how worried they are for Carla's group."

Then Felix noticed something else tinting Charlotte's sad look but then Charlotte decided to let loose the other something that was bubbling inside her.

"You know something, you two?" she murmured, "We have never lied to our parents before."

Felix and Músculo gave her a look. However, they agreed with her completely.

"You're right," said Músculo, "And without a doubt, we will be in even deeper trouble than we are currently in already."

"And I hate to think to see the reactions of Aunt Jewel and Uncle Blu or our close family friends," said Charlotte, "If Uncle Mercury and Aunt Sapphire find that their oldest daughter, and Uncle Mars and Aunt Chiquitita find that their youngest son and Aunt Ruby and Uncle Jupiter find that half of their brood and so on have gone to Guyana instead of Rio," Charlotte paused as dread came over her, "They are not going to like it, I can tell you."

"Uncle Blu and Aunt Ju-Ju," said Felix (because Roberto was Jewel's close childhood friend and treated like family, Felix, along with Jojo and Lavender, referred to Blu and Jewel as 'aunt and uncle', with Jewel's nickname being used like how Carla, Bia and Tiago referred to Roberto as 'Uncle Beto', though Felix and his brother and sister were not biologically related to Blu and his family), "Are especially gonna go berserk when they hear that all three of their first-brood offspring had gone to Guyana as well."

Charlotte nodded in agreement. Then another sigh escaped Músculo's beak. "Boy, are we in even more serious trouble," murmured the burly young male Spix macaw, knowing full well what the result was going to be when the truth finally came out. He then glanced into the moonlit ravine and jungle, "And I sure worry for Mr Neptune and Mrs Ultramarine and Indigo as well. Since the Bizarre Bird and Treasure myth is one of their clan's stories. Mom and Dad never allowed me to listen to those stories of theirs."

Charlotte sighed. Then she said, "Well, you'd better get back to bed," she said, "I'll perhaps see you in the morning when I get the chance."

Felix and Músculo nodded and prepared to return to their respective families' hollows.

"I'm sure Carla and company will make it back soon," said Músculo before he took off after Felix, "Just try not to worry about it too much."

Charlotte managed a small smile and whispered goodnight to him and Felix. Then within seconds, the two macaws were out of sight and Charlotte retreated to her bed-nest to try and get some sleep.

 **Meanwhile, several hours later**

The storm in Guyana, where Carla and company were, seemed to have eased but it had been strongly windy and rainy for quite some time. Now, however, the winds' rage had subsided and the rain was not as heavy or torrential as it had been earlier. However, the skies were still black with thick cloud and thunder still rumbled. It was now the early hours of the morning but the sun was still under the eastern horizon. Carla's group had been split into three groups because of the storm. One group, Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Alexandre, Ganymede and Azul who had Kira and Aiden with them, were asleep in the cave they had taken refuge out of the storm. The eleven were fast asleep, and they, apart from Kira and Aiden, still had their fanny packs on them, as well as one of the bags, the one containing Bia's precious drawing book and pencil set. The bag was used as a soft pillow by some of the birds and they were asleep. Carla, Bia and Tiago were on top of the bag while the others slept around it, their heads resting against the object. Aiden and Kira, however, were resting on some soft moss that grew in the cave, also exhausted mostly from the chase by the pair of harpy eagles. The scratches on Aiden's wing and Kira's back had stopped bleeding and had just begun the process of healing, but they were still red raw and angry and it was a wonder they didn't get infected for the claws of harpy eagles were not at all hygienic. The torrential rains must have washed the two macaws' wounds dry. Despite the pain crying from the scratches, Aiden and Kira were sound asleep. All eleven birds' plumages, which had been soaking wet with rainwater from the raging rains, seemed to have dried overnight, but they were still damp.

Ganymede lay in between Jojo and Alexandre on his back, his head resting against the bottom of the bag. He stirred as he was dreaming. Small moans and murmurs emitted from his beak. His murmurs and movements became more and more frequent and rigorous until finally, the young scarlet macaw's upper body shot bolt upright as though a thorn had suddenly sprouted under his head, a gasp drawn in through his beak and his brown eyes wide with fright. Ganymede then began to examine the surroundings and the sleeping forms of the other birds to register where he was until he calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief. However, as he lifted his wings, he felt painful stiffness shoot from them. Ganymede gasped and grasped his wing muscles. They had eased up, likely from all the mad flapping he and the others had to do to escape Ilosovic and his gang, the two harpy eagles and the storm. The other birds were likely to have this stiffness in their wings as well when they wake up. Sighing and gazing at the other ten as they slept and not wanting to wake them, Ganymede shakily stood up and began to unsteadily walk towards the entrance to the cave. At least his legs were still working, if also stiff from having to help carry the bag. Ganymede crept towards the entrance of the cave and looked out. To his joy, the storm had subsided, though it was still raining. But he was glad that it wasn't raining super-heavily like hours earlier. Ganymede then brushed his face with his wings and sat down. He then gazed at the other ten and sighed.

"We're gonna have to get some breakfast soon when dawn arrives," murmured the scarlet macaw. He then gazed into the trees. "I hope there are some fruit nearby."

Then thoughts about the other group members came into his head, especially for Mimas and Io, and Ganymede also hoped that they were alright too.

Somewhere else in the dark jungle, a form moved through the undergrowth on the forest floor. Velocity, who had been torn from the others during the storm, was struggling by herself through the darkness of the jungle. She was in pain, her immature peregrine falcon plumage dotted with small scratches and her right talon marked with a large scratch which oozed a bit of blood. The injury was so painful that it rendered walking normally too painful for Velocity. So she walked in a limp. Furthermore, her wing muscles were shrieking from painful stiffness, again from the mad flapping to escape Ilosovic and his gang and the two harpy eagles. Velocity had been carried by the powerful winds over a distance she couldn't estimate. However, she had managed to dive out of the powerful air currents. Her mother Cometa and father Lightning had taught her and Orion how to perform an attack dive during a hunting lesson, and how folding their wings by their sides made them streamlined enough to plough through the air at extreme speeds. Velocity had taken advantage of the shape made of her body by doing this and had ploughed through the streaming winds. However, due to the charcoal-blackness obscuring the earth, Velocity did not see the approach of trees of a forest below and had gone through a dreadful tumbling through the canopy and landed into a bush, injuring her right foot in the process. It was wonder she did not break a wing or the fanny pack, which she still had around her waist, hadn't been shredded by the cruel and unforgiving claws of the branches. If that happened, the results would have been disastrous. Then after Velocity had landed in the bush, exhaustion finally overshadowed her and she drifted off into a sleep, her feathers sodden from the rain. The small cuts and bruises marking Velocity's body were evidence from that ordeal. Now Velocity was hobbling like an injured capybara through the dark forest floor, her large eyes flooded with fear and dread. None of the other members if Carla's group was in sight and Velocity felt lost and all alone, too stiff to fly though her feathers were dryer now. Velocity had no idea how long time had gone by since her crash until she woke up, but it must have been several hours. However, she did not care about that. Her top priority was finding the others, but how could she do this in an infinite maze of vegetation where all kinds of unknown creatures lurked, especially if she were too stiff to fly?

As this realisation dawned upon the lonely and frightened young peregrine falcon, Velocity slumped against a tree trunk and huddled her talons to her body, wrapping her stiffened wings around herself. Great tears welled in her eyes and began to spill down her cheeks as she gazed into the dark maze of the unfamiliar Guyanese jungle before sobs escaped her throat. As Velocity began to sob her heart out, thoughts about her mother Cometa, father Lightning and brother Orion came into her head, as well as thoughts about her friends including Bia, Carla and Tiago and their parents Blu and Jewel whom she met for the first time as a fluffy white chick alongside Orion, when Blu and his family had visited Rio last year, but that only fed fuel to the fire of the lost, alone and despairing feelings burning inside her. Overcome with despair, confusion and fear, Velocity broke down, sobbing loudly. However, Velocity was so consumed by despair that she failed to notice movements flashing around her in the darkness, carrying something that glowed. A shadowy figure darted by, a flame on a stick streaming in its wake like a small fiery comet. Velocity continued sobbing loudly, her face buried in her wings when another figure whizzed by, a fiery comet moving with it. Then seconds later, Velocity was surrounded by a number of cloaked figures.

All the figures wore leafy cloaks covering their faces and bodies like hoods but emerging from the bottom were feathered legs each ending in three claws, one of which curled upward like an eagle's claw. A long, solid tail ending in a fan of tail feathers extended from behind the figures. Some held sticks with a flame each on the ends but all of them wore masks made from large leaves and fruit shells. Because of this, the creatures' faces were concealed. As the group of strange cloaked creatures surrounded Velocity, uttering inaudible whispers amongst themselves in curiosity of the falcon, Velocity slowly lifted her head, her eyes glistening with tears. When her eyes landed on the cloaked figures wearing masks standing before her, Velocity's distress immediately flared into alarm and she stiffened. However, she winced from her painfully stiff wings and injured right leg. The falcon grasped her leg and twisted her face in pain. Then one of the creatures whose face was concealed by a mask made from leaves, showing only its eyes, came closer to the falcon, the torch in its wing lighting its face. It examined Velocity as she continued grasping her injured talon before raising a clawed wing to its mask and lifting it off its face. The mask removed a pair of bright blue eyes, a row of eye-lashes radiating above each of them and a strange looking beak was revealed. However, the beak looked somewhat more like a reptilian snout. The creature appeared to be a female. Velocity then opened her tight-shut eyes and when she saw the face of the creature, she raised her head in utter awe and wonder. She then thought she saw something wave behind the creature. However, it was too dark for Velocity to make out what it was but when her eyes travelled down to the creature's feathered legs, and the legs of the other creatures, they widened in utter surprise. No bird Velocity had heard of had legs resembling wings. She had heard of some bird species having feathered legs but not _flight_ feathers. Velocity then shook her head, thinking she was dreaming. However, the pain in her injured talon tore through the surprise and she clenched her beak and screwed her eyes shut as she clasped her talon again, a small, red spot forming on her brown flight feathers. The blue-eyed creature, at this, leaned forward and moved the torch carefully towards Velocity's foot. Velocity, unaware that the creature was looking at her foot, slowly removed her wings to expose the scratch on her talon to examine how bad it was. A red gash was visible on her ankle and it was weeping a bit of blood. Though it was dry, Velocity's trek from her crash site must have come into contact with a stone or something and reopened the wound.

Suddenly, Velocity flinched as one of the other strange feathered creatures came forward, a large leaf in its wing-claws. The wings of the creatures had fingers on them, which was even stranger. The second creature then handed the blue-eyed female creature the leaf and some damp moss and she took them from it. Velocity then caught sighted something that was wavering behind the creatures. It was a solid tail ending in a fan of tail feathers. Velocity's eyes widened again in utter surprise. Absolutely no bird she had seen or heard of had a tail like that. But then she became alarmed again as the female blue-eyed creature proceeded to dab her injured foot with the moss and then wrap it in a leaf. This done, the blue-eyed creature stood back and smiled. Velocity gazed at her foot which was now bandaged in the large leaf. At this, she gazed at the blue-eyed creature who smiled and pulled the leafy mask in front of her face again, concealing it once again. Velocity smiled at the kindness of the creatures but then something sounded in the jungle air, a screech. At this, Velocity flinched in fright, but the feathered creatures before her also jolted. Their heads then gazed into the canopy of branches, eyes wide with alarm. The screech sounded again, louder this time, but it wasn't an eagle or falcon screech. This screech sounded different, more piercing than a macaw squawk. Then suddenly, the cloaked creatures sprang into action and ran about, uttering a cacophony of chatters that Velocity was too confused to decipher words from.

Velocity's gaze darted this way and that as the creatures began to dart off into the bushes, the flames of their torches resembling comets. Then it dawned upon Velocity. It was typical prey escape behaviour, similar to that of deer or gazelles when they sensed a predator nearby. And it seemed that these creatures had sensed that a predator was approaching. As another screech pierced the air again, Velocity was suddenly seized by three pairs of wing claws, much to her fright. Then the next thing she knew, she was carried away as three of the strange cloaked creatures hauled her away into the bush. Velocity was so alarmed that she began to speak for the first time in hours.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" she cried, "STOP!"

The creatures, however, ignored her please and rushed on, jumping over stones and roots on the go. Velocity watched the wood flow by when another screech of some incoming predator pulled her attention to the above canopy. Then Velocity saw it. It was a flying creature, its silhouette just visible against the dark canopy canvas. Velocity then squinted at it and managed to trace its outline with her extraordinary eyesight. She managed to make out an arrowhead attached to a rounded thing which was in turn attached to a long, thin branch. It was like a swan but with a large triangular beak at the front. Velocity then saw the body of the creature and out to the sides, emerged large, pointed structures shaped similar to Velocity's wings. These must be the wings of the creature. Behind the creature's body were clawed feet, but they weren't talons as Velocity had thought. At first Velocity, as she examined the entire shape of the creature, thought it was some sort of predatory bird but then she noticed something strange about the wings. On the leading edge of the wings were a three stubs, and the wings themselves appeared flexible and one-piece, instead of jagged as in a bird's wing due to feathers, shown as the creature flapped its wings. Velocity shook her head, thunderstruck by the creature. Absolutely no creature she had seen, anywhere, looked like this thing at all, but Velocity knew that it was terrifying. But then the myth came into her mind based on Triton's explanation of the story of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure.

The long bony tails ending in tail feathers, the feathered wing-like legs. These were traits no known living bird had. Then there was the concept of 'bat-birds', flying creatures that looked like birds, had beaks like birds and could fly like birds but did not have feathers and had wings of skin like a bat. Velocity then became overcome with extreme disbelief. Was she in the legendary place as depicted in the Navyfeather hyacinth Clan's story? However, Velocity soon felt the shock of seeing these bizarre creatures reach boiling point and at that point, and she passed out, her brain overloaded with what it was picking up. The three strange creatures continued to carry her, now limp, further into the strange jungle as they continued running away from the strange flying creature which emitted piercing screeches after them.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17- a close call and an amazing discovery**

 **Morning**

The storm had finally passed and the sun was beaming its golden rays down onto the Guyanese forest and landscape, though there were some large clouds still present. However, the rain had stopped and the winds had died down. The sunlight poured like transparent liquid honey into the entrance to the cave where Carla and her subgroup had taken refuge from the storm last night. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Alexandre, Ganymede and Azul all awoke from their sleep. However, as they stretched their wings, which were now dry, they realised how stiff they were. Kira and Aiden woke up as well and like the other nine were also stiff. The flight muscles and wings of all eleven birds had eased up.

"Ow, ow, ow," cried Justin, his face twisted in pain from the shooting pain from his stiff muscles from every twitch, "Honestly, my muscles feel like they've solidified."

"Yeah, mine as well," said Azul as he winced from pain with every step, "Must have been all that flying we had to do last night."

"We didn't half sleep like logs though," said Lavender as she shook her head, sending her ponytail feathers flapping from side to side.

"Yeah," said Jojo, also shaking his head as his Roberto-like head feathers flopped into his eyes. He then winced and uttered an 'ow' every time he moved his wings. Then Alexandre looked at Carla, Bia and Tiago and asked, "So, what next, you three? Are we going to go out and search for the others?"

"The storm's definitely passed," said Ganymede, "I've looked outside while it was still dark."

"Ow," said Carla, also wincing from her painfully stiff muscles, "Yes, but… it seems like we have a small problem."

At this, Aiden and Kira began to moan and complain again. "Yeah, we're gonna struggle to fly with these aching wings," growled Kira bitterly.

"Why do muscles have to ache SO much after all that rapid flying we had to do!?" growled Aiden as he grasped his chest where his wing muscles were.

"It's lactic acid," said Bia, "When muscle performance exceeds the energy production of the mitochondria in the muscle fibres, anaerobic respiration takes place and lactic acid is the result. That's what's causing the pains."

Bia then winced at the annoyed and mocking glares from Kira and Aiden.

"Yeah, talk gibberish, brat," snapped Kira sarcastically.

"We would rather suffer this wretched muscle pain than listen to YOU yap on about how they are caused, miss make-no-sense," said Aiden. At this, Bia's eyes flashed with hurt and she backed away, making Carla and Tiago shoot Kira and Aiden shocked and enraged glares, but the two macaws just chuckled. When Ganymede saw this, he darted forward towards the two bratty macaws, ignoring the pain in his stiff wings and legs and seized both of them by the chest feathers with his talons, yanking both of them close to his face.

"Now listen up, you two birdbrains," snarled the male scarlet macaw, his red feathers bristled as he spat the words right into Kira and Aiden's face, "If you're gonna say those spiteful remarks about ANY of us, least of all Carla, Bia and Tiago here, we're gonna leave you both to find your own way home, wherever you live, is that CLEAR!?"

"What's it to you, lard-bucket?" retorted Kira sourly. She got her reply with a hefty shove from Ganymede's powerful talon towards the bag. Kira gasped as she tripped over the bag and fell on her back. Aiden followed suite but he fell onto the cave floor. Then Carla stepped forward and raised a wing, prepared to slap the two macaws across the face when Kira and Aiden's spite transformed into fear and alarm.

"Alright, alright, we're sorry," cried Kira, her wings protectively hovering over her face.

"We won't say those things again," cried Aiden.

"IF you promise us that," growled Carla, her cerulean feathers bristled and her wing lowered. Kira and Aiden lowered their wings and stood up, nodding. Then Azul placed his wing on his stomach as it began growling.

"I think we could do with getting the show back on the road, guys," he said, "But I'm hungry."

"Yeah," said Jojo in agreement, his stomach also rumbling, "We're ready for breakfast."

Carla, at this, rolled her eyes and unzipped her fanny pack to check to see if she had any more fruit left. To her frustration, she eyed the others.

"Do any of you have any fruit left in your fanny packs?" asked she. At this, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Jojo, Lavender, Alexandre, Ganymede and Azul checked their fanny packs and replied with head shakes.

"No," said Alexandre.

"I'm afraid we've used all the fruit we've had in attacking those gangster birds during the chaos last night," said Azul.

"Is there any fruit left in the bag?" asked Justin. Tiago and Jojo went to look into the bag but found it empty as well, except for Bia's drawing things.

"I'm afraid not, Justin," said Tiago.

"We're well and truly out of fruit," said Jojo. At this, Kira and Aiden, at this, kicked the bag childishly.

"That's just great then, isn't it?" snapped the childish Spix macaw bitterly.

"And perfect timin' as well," added the other. Ganymede then shot the two macaws a furious glare.

"We would have had some fruit left in that bag, if you and your rotten so-called 'friends' hadn't pigged out on our supplies from it, you gannets," he growled.

"Hey, how DARE you call Ilosovic and his gang our 'so-called rotten 'friends'', you red-feathered parakeet," snarled Kira in retort.

"They're our friends, you know," put in Aiden. Ganymede, at this, darted forward and shoved his beak into the faces of the Spix and glaucous macaws, his brown eyes flaring like the storms on Jupiter.

"You don't realise what a HORRIBLE group those birds are, you two," he shouted, "They left you behind last night shortly after we had escaped those two harpy eagles. Ya GET IT!?"

"ENOOOUUUGH!" screeched Carla at the top of her voice, making the other ten flinch. Carla's work echoed off the cave walls and carried outside. A few birds lofted into flight as they were startled by the cry. Ganymede, Aiden and Kira then gazed at Carla as she continued, "We're not gonna get anywhere with these fiery arguments, okay? We're a team here, and we must work together. Remember, birds of red, orange, green, yellow, blue, turquoise, navy blue and grey feathers…"

"…Have to stick together," finished Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Alexandre, Azul and also Ganymede whose temper had been restrained by Carla's shout. Kira and Aiden, however, glared at Carla but said nothing.

"Exactly," said Carla. She then hopped up onto the bag to use as a platform to speak with the others.

"Now, here's what we're gonna do," she continued, "We're gonna fly out of this cave, search for some fruit and have breakfast here in this cave," the others all groaned and felt their aching muscles but Carla hardened her gaze. "I know you lot don't like the sound of that due to our stiff muscles but we have to eat something. Then after that, we're gonna leave this cave and search for the others. Is that clear?"

The others apart from Kira and Aiden, sour looks still smothering their faces, nodded. Carla's wing point then shot at the two sour-faced macaws like a bullet.

"YOU'RE gonna help too," shouted Carla in a commanding tone, "Since after all, you've troughed through all the fruit in our two bags with the other gangsters, so you're gonna participate in the foraging trips… without question!"

"Who do you think you are?" Aiden obnoxiously retorted, "Our mother?"

"Do as my sister says," snapped Tiago angrily.

"Or you'll face serious consequences," put in Justin, "And do mean SERIOUS. Is that clear?"

Aiden and Kira grouchily huffed. "Alright," growled Kira bitterly. Aiden just said nothing. Carla, Justin and Tiago smiled.

"And make sure that you do," said Carla firmly. Kira and Aiden just huffed again as Carla turned to the others. "Right, let's split into groups," she said. And with that, Carla began to allocate the other ten into three smaller groups. She placed Bia, Justin, Azul and herself into one party, then Tiago, Lavender, Alexandre and Kira in a second and then the remaining three, Jojo, Ganymede and Aiden in a third. As soon as all eleven birds were in the three smaller groups, Carla said, "Right, we're ready. Group one, my group, will search for some fruit trees to the left of the cave, Tiago's group will search the trees straight in front of the cave entrance…" Kira just rolled her eyes grouchily. "…And Jojo's group will search the trees to the right," said Carla, "When you find any ripe fruit, pick it and bring it back here and make sure there is enough to feed your group. However, don't go too far from the cave. The last thing we need is anymore of us getting lost. Do you all get your tasks?"

The others apart from the sour-faced Aiden and Kira nodded.

"Good," said Carla, "Now, let's move!"

And with that, the three groups walked towards the cave entrance, opened their wings and all took off, one by one. It was quite a struggle due to their aching muscles, which made flying rather clumsy. However, they were sure to get over the aches and pains if they put their muscles to use in gentler flying than all that hectic flapping last night. As they left the cave entrance to forage, Ganymede said to Jojo, "Carla certainly is an excellent leader, isn't she?"

Jojo smiled and nodded. However, Aiden rolled his eyes and followed the other two. Then the three small groups split up and began to look for some fruit trees.

Somewhere else in the Guyanese jungle, Phoebe's group had emerged from the hollow in which they had spent the night. Like Carla's group, the birds of this group were also aching from stiff muscles due to the serious flapping they had to do last night. However, they had managed to ignore the complaints from their muscles and had already foraged enough fruit for a filling breakfast. Phoebe, Matilda, Io, Sheldon, Brooke, Miranda, Oberon, Charon and Neytiri were sat in one of the highest branches of a tall tree, eating a low variety of collected fruit. Berries, papayas and guavas were all they could find but they didn't mind. As long as they had fruit to eat, it was good. The nine macaws had also filled their bag and some of their fanny packs with more of the fruit. As they ate, Matilda said, "It sure is strange to have our first properly foraged meal in a country other than Brazil, isn't it?"

"Our first one in Guyana," said Brooke as she relished the sweet taste of the guavas. As they continued eating, Neytiri stared out into the Guyanese air. Small specks of birds flew by above the Guyanese forest and Neytiri thought she heard the noise of a howler monkey in the distance. It truly was strange being in a different country altogether, especially with different habitats sprinkled over the land, such as savannahs and other types of forests. Then Oberon said, "I'm going to have a look round to see where we are."

"Okay, don't go too far," said Phoebe. And with that, Oberon opened his wings, wincing from the stiffness of his muscles and took off. He ascended to several metres above the forest and began to examine the surroundings. As he looked all around, Oberon's eyes landed on a rather interesting object in the distance. It was a large pale sandy brown lump of rock that appeared to stretch for miles and its shape reminded Oberon of the Spix macaw tribe's ravine for it had similar sort of cliffs enclosing it. However, it was small compared to the cliff Oberon was seeing. At this, the male great green macaw descended to the others and perched near them.

"See where we are?" asked Phoebe.

"There's an interesting spectacle in the distance," replied Oberon, "It's some sort of cliff face or something, like those enclosing the Spix tribe's ravine but very long. I think we should check it out once we have finished breakfast."

"I think we should consider finding Carla and the rest first, Oberon," said Io after swallowing a piece of papaya, "That's our first priority."

"Yes," said Sheldon, "We must reunite with the others."

Oberon nodded and sighed. He then went back to finishing filling whatever space was left in his stomach when suddenly, he stopped when he heard something from below. At this, Oberon froze and stared down through the canopy at the forest floor.

"What?" he murmured. He then felt curiosity bubble within him. Shooting a glance at the other eight as they continued eating, Oberon took off from the branch and descended through the canopy. He then perched onto a low branch and peered out from behind a cluster of leaves. But when he laid his eyes on the source of the sound, the young male Buffon's macaw felt both disgust and horror spark at the same time within him. The noise Oberon had heard was a mournful whimpering noise, and it was coming from a monkey, and it was being carried in a cage by the object of Oberon's disgust. However, Oberon could not recognise what species of primate it was, but he knew that the monkey was frightened and in distress, its fright filled eyes darting about at the cages and its hands gripping the bars as it was helplessly carried away by a woman. Behind the woman were two more people, both men. The three humans were talking in Portuguese and Oberon, having received lessons in the language from his mother Esmeralda back home alongside his four sisters Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania and father Uranus, managed to translate some phrases to English in his head. Oberon immediately recognised the three humans.

"Poachers," hissed the great green macaw in utter disgust. His green, yellow, blue and red feathers bristled and he felt the hotness of unease radiate from his inside, remembering the warnings and stories he had heard from birds who have been captured by poachers, such as Roberto, and what had almost happened to Flor also came to Oberon's mind. The three poachers, who appeared most likely to be from outside Guyana based on the language they spoke, were precariously close to Phoebe's group's location, directly under them. Then dread hit Oberon. Four of the other eight were extremely rare species of macaws. Two were glaucous, one was Lear's and the other was Spix, and it seemed that the second man and the third one in the line, armed with a net gun, was scanning the trees for any flash of colour to catch, and if he spotted Phoebe, Charon, Neytiri or Matilda, he would not hesitate to net them. Then Oberon felt panic begin to boil within him. He knew he had to fly up to the other eight and warn them but he daren't make too much noise which would give his position away to the poachers.

Then Oberon decided to quietly back away from the poachers, examining their every move as they scanned the environment and carried the caged monkey. He took one step, then another and then another, making sure that the poachers weren't looking his way and freezing whenever the one armed with the net gun did. Then what happened next threw everything into chaos. As Oberon continued stepping carefully away from the poachers, his talon landed on a twig too weak to support a macaw's weight. The moment it did, the twig dropped out from under him and Oberon was sent tumbling from the branch to the forest floor! That sent Oberon's panic levels skyrocketing through the canopy. Screeching and squawking, the great green macaw hurtled downward, tumbling violently and flailing his wings, desperately trying to fly, towards the forest floor. His squawks alerted the poachers and they snapped round in his direction. Then Oberon landed on the forest floor with a soft 'whumph'. However, his panic wasn't over. Oberon then tumbled down a slope in the floor and the next thing he knew, Oberon felt something tangle around his talon. At this, the great green macaw's terror-filled sky blue eyes travelled to whatever snagged his talon and when he saw some sort of string connect to a setup, horror exploded within him. The string, which was tied in a loop and strategically placed on the floor to possibly trap an animal's leg, was connected to a bell which was hung from a low branch. Oberon gasped, remembering how hunters sometimes used traps like this to catch game like deer. Only this trap was used to catch animals to take out of the environment. Flooded with immense panic, the great green macaw tried talking off but then he found himself suspended in mid-air, flapping his wings but not moving. His movements, however, tightened the string and shook the branch, ringing the bell. However, Oberon let loose distressed screeches that echoed into the forest as the woman and two men ran over to him, shouting in delighted Portuguese.

Back in the tall tree, Phoebe, Matilda, Io, Sheldon, Brooke, Miranda, Charon and Neytiri had just finished eating their gathered fruit when they heard distressed macaw sounds. At this, the upper bodies of all eight birds stiffened like a stick being twanged.

"OBERON!" shouted Phoebe, her head snapping down to the forest floor. The other seven also shot horrified looks downward. Oberon continued flapping and screeching as one of the men cut the string attached to his ankle and shoved him into another cage. Oberon screeched in pain as his head hit the bars, and the sound of the door being closed and a padlock placed was heard. Then the next thing he knew, he found himself gazing into the triumphant face of the man who uttered in Portuguese, which Oberon translated in his head, "Whoa, a macaw! This bird would make us BIG money!"

"What sort of species is it?" asked the woman, also translated by Oberon in his head.

"I believe it's a rare species of green macaw," said the man (translated by Oberon also), "But we don't have time to deduce exactly what sort it is. Let's get outa here before…"

Suddenly, some enraged squawks exploded from the above canopy cutting the man's speech off and making the three poachers freeze and look around. Oberon also looked around, his head through the bars of the cage with his talons gripping two of them, while the monkey also examined the vegetation, eyes wide. Another squawk sounded, making the three poachers turn in another direction. However, they did not see a navy blue and dark teal comet wearing something brown explode from some leaves and swoop down on them from behind. Phoebe, who had heard Oberon's distressed screeches, descended like a hawk upon the three poachers, her talons poised and ready to inflict injury, her eyes flaring like grey volcanoes. Then within seconds, Phoebe's razor-sharp talons made contact with one of the poachers' faces, slashing over that of the man who held Oberon. Blood drops flew after Phoebe as she flew away, followed by agonised screams as man screamed and covered his face, dropping the cage holding Oberon which went clattering to the ground. The other man, the one armed with the net gun, and the woman who held the monkey, at this, snapped their heads in the direction of the navy blue comet as it veered around through the trees. Then suddenly, three more feathered rockets, two red with blue or teal, yellow and green wings, and the other blue and yellow, also wearing something brown, shot in and struck the two from behind. Io and Sheldon furiously went for the woman and began to mercilessly tear out her hair with their beaks and talons while Brooke went like a savage cat for the net gun holding man's face and arms, screeching loudly. The woman, who had dropped the caged monkey, screamed as locks of hair were painfully torn from her head by the enraged scarlet and scarlet/green-winged hybrid macaws, her hands over her head to protect it but Io and Sheldon fiercely clawed and bit them as well, while the man, who had dropped his net gun from the surprise attack by Brooke, ducked and covered his head with his arms and hands to protect it from the aggressive blue-and-gold macaw who scored her claws over his arms and head, drawing blood. Oberon and the monkey gazed in horror as the three macaws savagely attacked the two poachers while Phoebe, who had returned, mercilessly went for the other man and bit and clawed his face and arms, screeching like an enraged cat. While the Lear's, the two red and the blue-and-gold macaws kept the three poachers occupied, Neytiri, Charon, Miranda and Matilda rocketed in and seized Oberon's cage. However, they also seized the monkey's cage as well and carried both cages away into the canopy, despite their aching muscles.

The woman whose face and arms were covered in bleeding scratches then began to swipe her hands at Io and Sheldon but the two macaws dodged, screeched loudly and continued scratching her and tearing more hair out of her head. Brooke then sent the man who had the net gun toppling towards the woman. His foot snagged on a tree root and the man lost his balance as Brooke clawed his face one final time and fell like a tree trunk towards the woman, crashing into her. The two then fell down in a heap while Phoebe knocked the other man down by tackling his face. This done, the four macaws retreated into the above canopy after Neytiri, Charon, Matilda and Miranda, leaving the three poachers dumbfounded. A few minutes later, Phoebe, Brooke, Io and Sheldon, with Charon, Neytiri, Miranda and Matilda up ahead, continued flying like mad through the trees, trying to put as much space between them and the poachers as possible. The four had cleaned their talons of human blood and had seized the bag before making their hasty departure, also making sure that they had their fanny packs still around their waists. The eight flew on and on until finally, they came to a large tree where they took refuge. Neytiri, Charon, Miranda and Matilda set the two cages holding Oberon and the monkey down on a branch while Phoebe, Charon, Miranda and Matilda appeared and flopped down on another branch next to them, the bag's straps catching hold of the end. Then the eight macaws, breathing rapidly, began to calm down. Their bodies were shaking with adrenaline and terror and their feathers were on end. Oberon had almost been taken by poachers but the most frightened of all was Charon for it had brought back terrible memories of his sister Flor almost getting caught. Then as soon as they had got their breath back, Phoebe shot Miranda and Brooke a panicked look. The padlocks on Oberon and the monkey's cages must be unlocked or broken.

"Get something rock-hard, quickly, and I want two of them," she said. The female great green and blue-and-gold macaws nodded and left to search for said objects. Then Phoebe shot Oberon a fierce and terror-filed glare.

"What in the WORLD were you doing down there!?" she bellowed, making Oberon flinch, "We could have lost you!"

"Yeah, had we not heard your screeches for help," added Matilda, "You could have been TAKEN by those pesky humans!"

"Don't you know that we're outside of a protected reserve?" put in Io. Sheldon and Charon also glared at Oberon with agreeing, angry faces while Neytiri, who was frightened, said nothing. Oberon, at this, looked back at the others with shame in his sky blue eyes.

"I'm s-s-sorry," he murmured, "I heard something and I was about to warn you but I ended up caught…"

Phoebe then felt her anger melt to relief and she hugged Oberon through the bars.

"Oh, please don't wander off again like that," she murmured, "We thought we were gonna lose you. We honestly don't want any more trouble after all that we've went through last night."

Oberon returned the hug and began to weep while Io, Sheldon, Matilda, Charon and Neytiri looked on. Then Miranda and Brooke's voices reached their ears.

"Here," said Miranda, a tough stick in her talons.

"We've found these but I don't know if they would unlock the padlocks," said Brooke, who was also armed with another stick. Phoebe, at this, backed away and allowed the two to set top work with picking the padlocks, locking Oberon and the monkey in their cages. It was a torturous wait and it took Miranda and Brooke a good while to solve the puzzle but a clicking sound from each of the padlocks finally sounded in their ears. This done, Brooke and Miranda tossed the sticks aside, removed the two unlocked padlocks and also threw them away and opened the doors. Without hesitation, Oberon and the monkey struggled out of their cages. The former went into the wings of his group, especially his sister Miranda while the latter looked on in curiosity. Neytiri said to the monkey, "Go on, off you go into the jungle and this time; watch out for poachers."

The monkey, at this, stood there, confused but then it left, swinging through the trees and disappearing out of sight. At that moment, Oberon and the other seven had broken their group hug. Oberon was clearly frightened by the whole ordeal and had hoped that he would never run into danger with poachers again. Then after everything had calmed down, Phoebe said, "Right, let's move on and find Carla and the rest."

"Guys, look," said Sheldon. At this, the other eight came and gathered round him.

"What is it?" asked Phoebe but when she saw what Sheldon was looking at, she drew in a sharp gasp. The other seven did the same. Rising up before them tens of metres away was a wall of sandy brown rock, like the rock of the Spix macaw tribe's ravine walls. The wall seemed to stretch high into the sky and span laterally both ways for miles.

"I wonder what that structure is," said Charon, the horror from Oberon's ordeal forgotten. Phoebe, at this, rubbed her beak, opened her wings and took off. Charon, Oberon, Neytiri, Io, Sheldon, Brooke, Miranda and Matilda all followed and brought the bag with them. The macaws felt less stiff but it was still a bit painful to fly. Nonetheless, the group continued flying towards the sandy brown wall. As the group got closer, Neytiri looked to the side and saw a flying creature in the distance also heading towards the cliff face. At this, she squinted at it. The flying creature, which was about the size of Eduardo, was a funny shape. At first, Neytiri thought it was a bird but then she noticed something odd about it. Its wings appeared smooth and there was something on its back. However, it was too far for Neytiri to get a glimpse of its shape. As she gazed at the creature with the thing on its back, inquisitiveness and fascination fired up within the young female glaucous macaw and she immediately deviated from the flight path of the others and began to follow the shape.

"It actually looks like a giant ravine wall," said Matilda, her eyes on the face, "Like the walls around my tribe's home."

"And also the Lear's macaw tribe's home too," said Sheldon as he carried the bag with Io, Miranda and Brooke, "Does it remind you of your tripe's ravine, Phoebe?"

"I don't know but it's too large to be a ravine, anyway," said Phoebe as she led the group. Suddenly, Charon's voice barked, startling the other seven.

"Neytiri!" shouted Charon. At this, Phoebe, Sheldon, Io, Matilda, Phoebe, Brooke and Miranda's heads turned and followed Charon's angry glare and when they saw the grey and aqua blue shape of Neytiri wander away from the group, horror and irritation flared up within them. At this, the eight abandoned their flight path and chased after Neytiri as she continued following the strange pair of creatures.

"Oi, Neytiri!" barked Phoebe, "Get back here!"

"We don't want you getting caught by a hazard after Oberon with the poachers!" shouted Io. Neytiri, at this, stole a glance at the other eight and said in fascination, "There's a strange creature over there."

And with that, she continued flying after it.

"Neytiri," shouted Phoebe, "Neytiri!"

The other seven also shouted Neytiri's name but the female macaw continued chasing after the creature in front. Then the creature flew upward, parallel to the tall sandy brown wall. At this, Neytiri also began to fly upward, the other eight following and shouting at her to return.

 **Meanwhile**

Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Alexandre, Ganymede and Azul, together with Aiden and Kira, were flying towards the large cliff structure as well. They had just finished their breakfast and were now flying to investigate the strange cliff face up ahead. Their muscles were less stiff and they were able to fly relatively easier but it was still somewhat awkward. Kira, Aiden and Azul's scratches, which they had received from the harpy eagles during the chase last night had also clotted over and to the relief of the others, the scratches had not become infected. The rain must have cleaned their shallow scratches, and the three macaws were able to fly by themselves again. As the group flew along, Ganymede, Lavender, Jojo and Tiago carried the bag with them, holding it by the straps. As the cliff face approached, Justin looked worried.

"We still need to find the others," he said, "I sure hope they are alright."

"That storm last night wasn't half turbulent, I can tell you," said Jojo with a shudder.

"Yeah, flying through conditions like those is very dangerous," said Azul, "Especially at night."

"It was like a nightmare, honestly," murmured Lavender timidly as she dragged the bag along, "I thought we were gonna die."

"It was actually my fault for allowing us to fly through that storm," said Carla guiltily, "But I was so blinded by the desperation to get away from those gangsters led by that ugly frigatebird with that pirate-like patch over his eye as soon as possible, I just didn't consider the risks."

She then breathed a sad sigh while the others looked on with sympathetic eyes. Aiden and Kira, however, maintained a bitter glare and aimed it at the chubby green-wed Spix macaw.

"Those missing birds will be struggling out there, lost and alone," said Carla, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She gazed around the passing Guyanese jungle, imagining Phoebe, Virgil and the others struggling in the strange environment. Justin sighed, worried for his brother and sister Matilda while Ganymede hoped that Io, Estelle and Sheldon and the rest were alright. Alexandre, however, was hopeful.

"I'm sure they're alright," he said, "They'll be looking for us like how we're looking for them, and I'm sure we'll find them eventually."

"Yeah, right, green-winged brat," snapped Aiden scornfully at the back, "And because of your fatso friend up in front, we've been separated from our friends."

Kira also glared bitterly but said nothing. Alexandre, hearing Aiden's offensive comment about Carla reach his ears, snapped round, flew over to the glaucous macaw and snatched him by the chest feathers with a talon. He then yanked Aiden to his face.

"Will you _shut up_ about Ilosovic and his gang," Alexandre growled, his green eyes ablaze with anger, "And also stop calling Carla names!"

Aiden, at this, whimpered timidly as Alexandre shoved him away from him. Aiden was then met by the acidic looks from Ganymede, Lavender, Jojo and Tiago, the bag carriers, and also from Bia.

"You seriously need to learn some manners, nitwit," growled Tiago fiercely. Aiden just breathed a sulky sigh and flew on.

"When are he and Kira gonna learnt to be nice?" asked Lavender grumpily.

"I don't know but if they don't stop this behaviour," said Ganymede, "Then they're gonna face a thick ear, not that we birds technically have ears. You know the outer part called the pinna that mammals have but you know what I mean."

The others nodded and continued flying on. A while later, Carla's group arrived at the stony face of the large cliff and the moment they did, they began to ascend towards the sky. The rainforest leading up to the foot of the cliff began to recede as the birds gained more and more altitude.

"Boy, it sure is high," shouted Carla as she led the other twelve up the face. Ganymede then stole a glance behind and saw the green sea of the Guyanese jungle recede into the distance. He looked towards the horizon and saw paler green and yellow patches which he assumed were savannahs or smaller forests. He thought he saw a few brightly coloured spots against the green canvas, presumably birds. However, Ganymede soon turned his face away from the receding Guyanese landscape and focused on following the others up the cliff face. Then within about ten minutes, Carla and company arrived at the top when the rock face curved from a vertical wall to a horizontal, flat surface. The group followed the surface and were soon flying horizontally again, puffing and panting from flying against gravity. The top of the cliff appeared stepped and jagged, with rocks protruding into the air. Next, Carla and company followed the surface until they eventually came to the edge where the cliff dropped down again. At this, they stopped and perched on the precipice. Then when they gazed down into the land on the other side of the cliff, sharpened gasps were drawn in by the group, apart from Kira and Aiden.

Stretched out before the group was a lush jungle like the one outside the cliff and on the other side of the jungle was another rock face. When Carla scanned the land she realised that it was enclosed in the sandy brown rock, like a miniature canyon. Small white fluffs of cloud hovered over some of the green sea and silvery ribbons of water snaked through the green trees. A waterfall cascaded into the river on one side of the mini-canyon, or large ravine. The ravine was much, much larger than the Spix and Lear's macaw tribes' ravines combined; probably about twenty times their size or larger than the two's areas added together. As the group continued examining the enclosed jungle and land, Lavender caught sighted something flying over the trees.

"Guys, LOOK!" she shouted, a point to the objects. At this, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Justin, Alexandre, Ganymede and Azul followed Lavender's point and saw them. Kira and Aiden also saw them. Gliding over the green sea of trees were three flying creatures. They had wings and beaks like birds but then Carla and the others saw that they had features they had never seen on any bird species they were familiar with. Though they were too far to be seen from this distance, the group noticed that the wings were shaped like a falcon's. Then Kira noticed something else about the creatures.

"I don't see any feathers on those things," she said with a curious frown. At this, Carla, Bia and Tiago and the others gazed harder and realised that Kira was right. However, the three creatures disappeared into the green sea before the birds could properly deduce Kira's statement, but Ganymede had managed to reach a conclusion.

"They certainly are featherless and their wings are membranous," he said. But then realisation washed over him as the others gawked at him in shock. There was a minute's silence but then Alexandre broke it. He remembered the legend Triton, Indigo and Victor told them about.

"Flying creatures that have wings and beaks like birds but wings like a bat!" he blurted out in sheer joy, "Bat-birds, and how some of them had survived extinction of the giant lizards and moved to remote places away from humans, one of which is an enclosed ravine in Guyana! This must be it!"

Then it was the others', apart from Kira and Aiden's, turn, to sense realisation flare within them.

"Of course," said Carla with a jubilant smile, "The Navyfeather Clan's legend!"

"Looks like we've found it," said Bia.

"And hopefully, the deposit of treasure should be somewhere in this giant ravine," said Tiago.

"We're gonna save the Sanctuary de Amazon after all," shouted Jojo, his wings around Lavender. The brother and sister then cheered and jumped together excitedly. Justin, Azul, Alexandre and Ganymede also whooped in jubilation while Kira and Aiden just looked on with frowns on their faces, disinterested. Carla's subgroup couldn't believe it. They had found what the mythical place they were looking for. However, another thing came to Carla's mind, one that killed the jubilant feeling. The other birds who were still missing. Where were they?


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18- meeting some of the titular creatures of the myth**

Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Alexandre, Ganymede, Azul, Aiden and Kira all descended from the cliff precipice towards the lush jungle surrounded by the tall cliff walls. As the jungle got closer and closer, the birds examined the exotic-looking trees. Some species appeared to resemble the tree and fern species found in the fossil record and Bia was able to identify one or two of them. After the group reached the tree tops and then descended through the canopy towards the forest floor, Carla and the others touched down onto the floor, the bag carriers bringing the bag along. The birds then looked around.

"Some of the plants look prehistoric," said Bia as she examined some strange looking ferns and trees, "But the rest of the forest is mostly populated by modern-day trees and vegetation."

"It's hard to believe that this place is so pristine," said Justin as he examined more plants, "Although few humans may have been here but have not seen any of those strange animals."

A few feet away, Tiago, Jojo, Ganymede and Alexandre were examining a little stream that ran past the group's location. The stream seemed to run through the cliff wall's foot and emerge into the giant ravine. Ganymede then came across a small carpet of strange looking plants growing just on the edge of the forest. The plants were only a few centimetres tall and had green stems that branched, like a tree. On the end of their tips were bulbous looking things which Ganymede, using his intelligence in plant anatomy, identified as possibly sporangia or spore-holding capsules. It appeared that these odd plants resembled something from far down in the fossil record, notably the Silurian rock stratum. Then Ganymede gazed further into the forest and saw some of the other plants, trees, shrubs and ferns, that bore a strong resemblance to the plants known from the fossil record, especially from the Permian, Triassic and Jurassic rock strata.

"This is definitely a strong equivalent to _Jurassic Park_ ," Ganymede heard Carla say, "Look at these weird looking plants."

"They'd probably be called 'living fossils'," said Bia, "Since these are supposed to be extinct millions of years ago."

'Or a few thousand years, depending on your perspective,' thought Ganymede. He then turned to examine the river. Kira and Aiden, however, just stood there, grouchy looks still plastering their faces. They were clearly uninterested in the Jurassic Park-looking jungle. Nearby, Lavender and Azul were examining something they had found in the stream. They had come across a small group of weird-looking animals swimming on the stream floor. These animals bore a strong resemblance to woodlice or shrimps but they had long, whisker-like appendages extending laterally from their front ends and streaking back. The strange creatures darted for cover into the rocks as Azul lowered a talon towards them.

"These look like trilobites," he said intrigued. Lavender shot him a confused look.

"What?" she asked.

"Extinct species of animals referred to as arthropods in Ganymede and Bia's lingo," said Azul. Lavender walked over to look but Azul said, "They've darted under the rocks when I put a talon into the water."

Lavender, at this, stopped. As the eleven birds continued examining the strange environment, Carla, Bia and Tiago suddenly heard some familiar voices. At this, they, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Alexandre, Ganymede and Azul all stiffened, but not from alarm but hope.

"Isn't that…?" began Jojo, his crest feathers slightly spiked out not from fear but from hope. Tiago was about to answer when a familiar voice shouted, CARLA, BIA, TIAGO, GUYS!"

At this, the nine birds all spun round to see nine more familiar birds (some carrying the other bag) zoom in towards them from some plants across the stream, jubilant looks on their faces. Carla and the others apart from the sour-faced Kira and Aiden immediately recognised the Lear's macaw; two red macaws, Spix macaw, blue-and-gold macaw, two great green macaws and two glaucous macaws zoom in towards them. At this, Carla's group rushed off to meet them, wings open wide.

"PHOEBE, MATILDA, IO, THE REST OF YOU!" cried Carla, Bia and Tiago.

"Io, Sheldon!" cried Ganymede and Alexandre together.

"Matilda!" cried Justin. Jojo, Azul and Lavender also shouted the names of the nine macaws, which were Phoebe's group consisting of Phoebe, Matilda, Io, Sheldon, Brooke, Miranda, Oberon, Charon and Neytiri, as they zoomed towards them. Then as soon as the two groups met, they were locked in a group embrace. Cries of joy erupted from the eighteen as they tightly hugged each other. Kira and Aiden, however, looked on grouchily. As they sobbed and cried in their embrace, Carla said to Phoebe, "I'm so sorry about last night. I was the one who put you lot through the mess of the storm."

"It's okay," said Phoebe, "I know how desperate you were to get us away from those horrible gangsters."

Carla then hugged her Lear's macaw friend. Nearby, Io, Alexandre, Sheldon and Ganymede were locked in a tight hug as well, and Justin, Jojo and Lavender especially hugged Matilda. Then as the group broke their hug, Phoebe's eyes sparkled.

"It's true, Carla," she cried excitedly, "The Navyfeather Clan's myth is absolutely true!"

"We saw what appeared to be one of those strange birds," cried Neytiri, "And it was riding one of them bat-birds!"

"And it looks like this must be the ravine depicted in the story," said Io.

"We're gonna save our home from the debt crisis after all!" added Charon. Matilda, Sheldon, Brooke, Miranda and Oberon also jumped up and down and shouted in agreement. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Alexandre, Ganymede and Azul all smiled. But then Ganymede asked the question regarding the remaining nine birds who were still missing and that killed the high spirits of the group.

"But have you seen Virgil?" he asked.

"And also Estelle," added Alexandre "And Mimas, Triton, Blueberry, Alessandro, Milo, Velocity and Titan who are still missing."

At this, Phoebe and the other eight who had been with her gazed back at Carla's group with sad looks on their faces.

"I'm afraid we haven't," she said sadly, "We… we don't know what has happened to them."

At this, Carla and her group looked down at the ground, tears in their eyes.

"Don't tell me they've possibly been carried to an unknown place far away or even worse…" murmured Justin in a strangled voice, but he daren't say the horrible 'k' word. Then the group began to grieve for the loss of the missing nine birds. Furthermore, they imagined the serious trouble and heartbreak the parents and friends back home would face, especially Venus and Zephyr since Virgil was one of their sons and also Charlotte's brother, and Neptune and Ultramarine about the loss of Triton, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli over Blueberry's disappearance during Carla's group's time in Guyana, and so on with Saturn and Orquidea (since Mimas and Titan were two of their offspring), Travis and Sunset (as Milo was their son), Cometa and Lightning (since Velocity was their daughter), and Estelle's parents as well as Alessandro's chestnut-fronted macaw family and group. While Carla's group continued grieving over the apparent loss and demise of Virgil's group, they were made aware of some footsteps. At this, the macaws all looked around until their eyes landed on a small group of strange reptiles as they stepped out from behind a bush towards the shore of the stream.

"Look at that," whispered Jojo in awe. The others gazed at the reptiles, Kira and Aiden with sour looks on their faces. The group of reptiles appeared to have some young ones based on their size. These reptiles were unlike any other reptile the macaws had ever seen in their lives. While the reptiles the macaws had seen were four-legged or quadrupeds, such as lizards, or legless in the case of snakes, these reptiles walked on two legs. Their legs were shaped like a bird's legs but they each ended in three clawed toes, while their forelimbs were smaller with three-fingered hands on the end. A long, thrashing tail flowed out from the bird-shaped bodies of the creatures and unlike the legged reptiles Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others were familiar with, whose legs were sprawled out to the sides, the hind legs of these reptiles before them were positioned right under their bodies. Piercing slit-pupil eyes, a common trait among the reptiles, scanned the environment carefully, though they didn't seem to notice the macaws' presence. Then some of the larger creatures walked towards the stream's edge and lowered their necks to drink from the water, while the little ones playfully chased each other around the adults' legs. Bia recognised the creatures.

"Theropod dinosaurs," she whispered in awe, "I can't believe that those reptiles are still alive even after the larger dinosaurs had gone extinct."

"Maybe those species have survived the extinction event and are still living?" asked Tiago. Then Carla remembered the legend.

"Of course!" she said. The others turned to look at her.

"Remember the story about the bizarre birds, strange lizards and other strange creatures surviving extinction or hunting by humans?" said Carla with a smile.

"Yes," said Bia and Tiago while the others looked on.

"Well, those giant lizards had been dinosaurs," said Carla. She then gestured to the theropods before them. "These must be some of the creatures that had escaped extinction and are still living, perhaps in small, isolated populations today, like these."

Jojo and Lavender gazed at the theropods as they moved on further into the jungle.

"The Navyfeather Clan legend does mention smaller species of strange lizards surviving extinction with the bizarre birds and bat-birds, doesn't it," said Jojo.

"So they must be those strange lizard species," said Lavender as she watched the theropods disappear into the vegetation.

"Also," said Ganymede, "The bat-birds must be the pterosaurs," he then turned to Neytiri and Charon, "Like the one you said you spotted."

"That is true," said Neytiri.

"But that brings up another question," said Lavender, "What about the other creatures that aren't lizards, birds or bat-birds? Like those trilobites or whatever those woodlouse-like things Ganymede and I saw in that stream's edge…"

Then Carla interrupted.

"Well, I think that's enough of this talk," she said, "It's time to move on. We need to start the next stage of our quest and that is finding the treasure deposit."

"Yep," said Bia as she took hold of one of the straps of one of the bags and Tiago took another.

"Let's get a move on," said Ganymede as Io, Sheldon and Alexandre gathered round him. Brooke, Phoebe, Azul, Miranda, Oberon, Charon and Neytiri also prepared to move out, as did Justin, Matilda, Jojo and Lavender. Then Carla turned to Kira and Aiden.

"Kira, Aiden," she said, "Are you both ready?"

However, there was no answer. Furthermore the two macaws weren't present either. Then Sheldon saw two blue-coloured streaks flying towards the cliff-face.

"HEY!" he barked.

"Why are those two leaving this place already!?" asked Tiago dumbfounded. Then Jojo opened his wings and lofted into flight, Lavender and Alexandre right behind him. Ahead, Kira and Aiden were rocketing towards the cliff-face, determined looks on their faces. They had one group of birds in mind to find and they wanted to find them as soon as possible. However, they weren't aware that two Spix macaws and a green-winged macaw were hot on their tail. As the pair shot through the jungle, Alexandre, Jojo and Lavender in hot pursuit, Aiden grabbed hold of a twig while Kira flew on and bent it back. Then as the three pursuers arrived, Aiden released the twig, sending the brown arm snapping into Alexandre, Jojo and Lavender's stomachs and whacking them hard, stopping them in their tracks. Then the glaucous macaw took off. However, Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre, despite the pain from the twig whack, continued their wild chase through the partially Jurassic-like jungle. The five passed through a swarm of butterflies, startling them into flying for cover.

"GET BACK HERE!" barked Jojo loudly, his sea-green eyes ablaze with anger and head feathers spiked out. Aiden stole a glance at his and Kira's pursuers.

"Not a chance, brats," he snapped, "We've got our friends to bring."

"You mean that horrible pirate-faced frigatebird, Ilo-see-vick or whatever his name is and his gang?" retorted Lavender disgustedly as she dodged a branch, "I don't think so."

"You know we have absolutely no place on our quest for those gangsters and their trouble," put in Alexandre as he flew upwards to avoid crashing into another outstretched branch. Then Kira and Aiden passed by a beehive swarmed with buzzing bees. Kira snapped through the stem connecting the golden acorn-shaped object to a tree branch as she flew by with her beak and sent it falling towards the forest floor, hoping that it would smash into Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre and cover them in the sticky, gooey golden liquid of honey, not to mention the swarm of enraged bees in addition. At this, Jojo grabbed Alexandre and Lavender's wings with his talons and dodged the falling bee-bomb by sharply flying up and over it as it fell, narrowly missing the hive by a few centimetres. At this, Aiden and Kira shot an angry glance each back at the three pursuers and flew on.

As they came to the cliff face after emerging from the forest Kira and Aiden swerved sharply into a vertical path and began to fly upwards, parallel to the vertical wall of rock. Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre exploded from the forest and followed. However, the three split up. Jojo continued chasing the two rebellious macaws from behind while Lavender flew to the right and Alexandre to the left, hoping to catch up and cut off Aiden and Kira the moment they caught up with the two. The vertical chase went on for a few hard minutes but Lavender and Alexandre, despite puffing and panting, managed to catch up to Kira and Aiden who were getting tired also due to the direct fight against gravity. Flying vertically upwards was hard work and tiresome, much like how it was for us humans running uphill. Then as soon as Lavender and Alexandre were close enough to Kira and Aiden on either side, the two made their move. Lavender lunged at Aiden while Alexandre went for Kira. The two macaws tackled to two and stopped them in their tracks. After this, Kira and Aiden, furious, began to fight back but then Jojo rushed in and grabbed both by the necks. A fight then broke out as Kira and Aiden struggled against the two Spix macaws and green-winged macaw but the latter three were soon joined by a Lear's macaw, two great green macaws, a blue-throated macaw, a scarlet macaw and a half scarlet, half green-winged hybrid. Phoebe, Oberon, Miranda, Azul, Ganymede and Sheldon had come in to help, some vines in their talons and soon, with nine against two, Aiden and Kira were outnumbered and eventually overpowered. After another few minutes' struggle, Kira and Aiden were tied together by the group with the vines, much to their anger, and then carried back to Carla and the others waiting at the foot of the cliff.

About almost an hour after the struggle with Kira and Aiden, Carla's group was back on its travel through the jungle, walking due to their still-stiff muscles though the stiffness was not as intense. Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre dragged Aiden and Kira who were tightly tied up with sticks and vines with their wings bound to their sides and feet tied together, behind them by pulling them along with vines like leashes. Tougher sticks had been used in addition to the vines to make it more difficult for Kira and Aiden to bite through their restraints and freeing themselves. This pair of angered Spix and glaucous macaws glared bitterly at Carla's group as they walked ahead. The group trekked through the Jurassic World-like jungle. More bizarre theropod lizards darted by, alongside some ordinary lizards and some birds. 'Ordinary' birds that is, but these were small species like songbirds. Some of the macaws were sipping water from fruit shells they had found scattered on the forest floor and had filled from a puddle or stream while some more macaws carried the two bags filled with fruit the group had managed to find from a grove of trees during their trek. As Aiden and Kira continued to be dragged along behind the group, a half-fruit shell filled with water was offered to Kira's beak by Jojo.

"Here, drink this;" said Jojo firmly, "You must be thirsty by now."

Kira, at this, glared at the silvery water as it shimmered in the fruit shell and obnoxiously turned her beak away from it to reject it. Jojo, at this, withdrew the fruit shell, a disgusted look on his face at Kira's attitude.

"Fine, I get the message," growled the Roberto lookalike with Brisa's blue-white head angrily at Kira's arrogance, "You wanna face dehydration, then so be it."

Kira and Aiden just said nothing. Then Oberon glared back at the two sour-faced birds.

"I can't believe we had to go that far as to tie up those two like that," he muttered regrettably.

"But what else could we do?" asked Carla with a slight growl, "There was no way we're gonna have them two bringing in that horrible frigatebird and his gang."

"That's right," put in Justin, "We've been through enough trouble as it is the past two days and we don't want THAT lot being a burden on us."

"Not to mention YOU almost getting caught by some poachers based on what Phoebe told us while your group was having breakfast, which we asked based on some drops of blood staining her, Io, Sheldon and Brooke's talons," said Tiago with a frown, Oberon flinching at this fact, "Honestly, you could have been lost."

"I agree," said Charon as he walked alongside Neytiri who obediently stuck with the group despite the temptation to wander away into the new jungle beckoning her curiosity, "That didn't half bring back terrible memories of what almost happened to my younger sister Flor. My heart honestly felt like it was going to jump out my chest when we saw those three humans with the cages and net gun."

Oberon sighed and had to agree with this. If it weren't for Phoebe, Io, Sheldon and Brooke's brave actions in attacking those poachers, he would have been taken away, and Phoebe, Io, Sheldon and Brooke had managed to properly wash their talons of the remaining drops of human blood that still stained their claws in a puddle during the trek. The four now had properly clean talons and claws, glad to be rid of the remaining traces of those nasty humans who capture animals for money. Then Aiden shot Jojo a bitter look, his mind back on the beginning subject.

"Look," he growled like a stubborn chick that can't get its own way, "Kira and I are part of Ilosovic's gang. We wanted to fly out of this Jurassic Jungle place and find them…"

At this, Io, Ganymede and Sheldon snapped their heads at the glaucous macaw and shot him a fierce glare.

"Look, for the last time," growled Io furiously, "We don't wanna hear about that dreadful frigatebird and his comrades."

"And besides that, you two were left behind after we drove off those two harpy eagles before the storm tore our group apart," put in Ganymede, "despite you both being slightly injured with some shallow scratches."

"They wouldn't even care if you both DIED in the jungle or not," added Sheldon. However, Kira and Aiden, blinded by their arrogance, refused to budge in their loyalty to Ilosovic and his gang.

"Let me tell you guys something," said Kira, "When Aiden and I were chicks, we lost our families and friends to poachers. We two were the only ones left and we were found by Ilosovic and his gang who had taken us under their wings. They raised us, taught us to fly and provided for us."

"And they also taught you that all humans are evil and deserve to be mistreated and brutally attacked even without reason, whether they are poachers or not and even if they are well-meaning and care for the animals and the environment," added Brooke sourly. Kira shot the blue-and-gold macaw a glare.

"Well, you said you viciously attacked those three humans when that great green macaw brat," said the Spix macaw, her eyes glaring at Oberon who rolled his eyes in annoyance, "was caught."

"Well that's different," said Brooke, "While it's true that there are some bad humans out there, not all humans are bad," she then looked away. "Though I have to admit our tribes back in Brazil used to believe that about humans but now, after a sequence of events too complicated to go through, we know that it is not the case."

She then glared back at Kira and Aiden and said, "We only attacked those poachers because they were about to take away Oberon."

"Yeah, you tend to go crazy when a friend or relative of yours, such as chicks especially, are threatened by humans indenting to endanger them," said Io, "Be it attempting to steal them or threaten to harm them."

"It's like being faced with a predatory animal," said Ganymede. Kira and Aiden, at this, looked at the male scarlet macaw but the arrogant and human-hating looks never left their faces. When they saw that the two weren't going to listen, Ganymede, Io and Brooke exchanged glances and looked ahead, seeing it was pointless to discuss the subject of humans with the two macaws. Oberon also turned his back on the two macaws, leaving them to childishly grouse and moan.

"You don't realise how horrible humans are," shouted Kira. However, when she saw the unresponsiveness, Kira began to whinge and gripe like a chick while Aiden just kept quiet, a sour look smearing his face. As the group of macaws walked along, Bia gazed sadly and doubtfully at her drawing book.

"Are you alright, Bia?" asked Matilda as she walked alongside Justin. Bia, at this, snapped out of her doubtful look and quickly shoved her book back into the bag.

"Yes, I'm fine," said the Jewel-lookalike with brown eyes, "I-I-I'm just… missing home."

"Well, we'll soon be back in Brazil once we have got some of the treasure, Bia," said Justin with encouragement. Bia nodded but Matilda still looked concerned. She whispered to Justin, "Did you see the look on her face as she gazed at her drawing book?" she whispered to her older brother, "She looked unhappy."

"I know," whispered Justin in agreement, "I'm not sure why but it's definitely not like her to gaze at her drawing book with despondent eyes. Normally, Bia loves gazing at her book for scientific drawings are part of her love of science and nature."

Matilda agreed as she gazed at Bia. She felt that something was not quite right with her behaviour, and wanted to ask but felt it was not appropriate. As the group continued walking alone, Phoebe's face tightened as Kira's whines began to agitate her.

"Oh, I wish that macaw would _shut up!"_ she growled, "She's getting on my nerves!"

Azul as he pulled a strap from one of the bags stole a glance at Kira as she continued childishly moaning and griping. "She can whinge and whine all she likes but we're not untying her and her little glaucous macaw friend by her," he growled, "Not until those two learn to behave."

"Absolutely," muttered Miranda, "The last thing we want is them two bringing their so-called friends led by that pirate-faced frigatebird Ill-oh-sovy to us and the subsequent trouble with them that would follow."

"His name is Ilosovic," snapped Kira childishly. Miranda snapped a gaze at her.

"Whatever," growled the female Buffon's macaw. She then turned round and continued walking on. "We're getting sick and tired of hearing about that swallow-tailed seabird and his bunch of horrible birds," growled Miranda under her breath. Neytiri just shot Miranda a look and continued walking on with Charon while Carla and Tiago rolled their eyes. Kira then groaned childishly, seeing that access to her own way was not possible while Aiden just kept quiet. The two then continued to be dragged along by Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre as the group walked ahead. However, Carla's group was being watched. As the colourful group of macaws continued walking through the jungle, something darted past them behind some bushes. Long tall grass wavered from the small gusts of wind generated by the creatures' movements. As Carla walked along, Bia and Tiago flanking her, and Justin, Matilda, Phoebe, Azul, Charon and Neytiri just behind them, and Ganymede, Io, Sheldon, Brooke, Miranda and Oberon also behind them and Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre dragging the tied up Kira and Aiden along, those with the two bags pulling said objects along by the straps, the whole group was made aware by the sound of rustling leaves and grass blades. At this, the group stopped dead. Their feathers rose and their eyes widened in alarm. Even Aiden and Kira were alerted.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Azul.

"Yes," said Carla warily. The others then clustered around each other, Neytiri huddling against Charon with fear. Then another rustle of leaves of a bush startled the group and they snapped their heads in the sound's direction but saw nothing. However, the group felt shivers course down their spines and Carla began to scan the surroundings. She knew how frightening it was to be stalked, especially if the stalker is well hidden. However, she did not like it one bit for she found it intimidating, threatening, especially with a group of birds by her side. Bia, Tiago, Justin and Matilda then huddled together while Ganymede, Io, Sheldon, Brooke and Phoebe took up defensive stances, the others huddling together, eyes inflated with fear. The group continued looking around but still found nothing. Then Carla spoke.

"Alright, whatever you are, wherever you are," she growled, trying to sound brave with a struggle due to the fear boiling within her insides, "You're scaring us. Show yourselves!"

No answer much to Carla's frustration, but another rustle of plants, this time from a patch of grass. All heads snapped to this direction but again nothing was there. Tension then began to rise and thoughts of dread began to well up in some of the birds' minds. Predators? Angry residents? Whatever was watching the group, none of the macaws liked it one bit. Aiden and Kira continued looking around as tension continued to rise until…

"Guys, look," came Neytiri's voice. At this, all heads followed Neytiri's gaze as she pointed to something in the tall grass. Peering out from the cluster of tall, thin blades was a creature. However, its face was masked with leaves and its body was covered by a leafy cloak. Then the creature slowly emerged from the grass and stepped out into the open.

"What on earth is _that!?_ " asked Ganymede, fear replaced by shock. The others also gazed at the creature. It was as tall as Ganymede and most of its body was covered by a cloak of leaves, a hood around its head and a robe-like sheet over its body. Its face was obscured by a mask made of leaves and Carla, Bia and Tiago saw that the mask was not just a simple construct. One large leaf curved downward over some sort of beak or snout at the front of the creature's face, its edges flowing over the snout in such a way that it resembled a bird's beak. The facial part of the mask had a pair of hole through which a pair of blue eyes looked out. Smaller leaves covered the cheeks of the creature while another larger leaf extended upward and outward to cover the creature's forehead. The way the mask was constructed remained some of the macaws of the way the helmets of human knights from a certain period of history of certain countries were constructed. The macaws continued staring at the masked creature until Bia's eyes travelled to the lower parts of the creature's body, its legs and tail. She noticed that the creature's legs, which were visible from under the robe part of the cloak, resembled wings. Flight feathers pointed backward from the legs and at the foot of each of the legs were three claws, two on the ground and the other curled upward like a small sickle. Out the back of the creature's leafy robe trailed a tail but it was not a flow of tail feathers like the macaws' tails, but a long, solid tail ending in a fan of feathers shaped like a fan. The tail appeared prehensile for Bia saw it move up and down somewhat and the feathers appeared metallic blue, dark navy like Phoebe's feathers but with a metallic sheen.

There was a moment of awkward silence hanging over the macaws and the creature until Bia broke it.

"That creature looks like that feathered dinosaur from the fossil record known as _Microraptor,"_ she said in surprise.

"Or a dinosaur-like bird," said Ganymede.

"Its legs and tail are features that every bird we have come across lack completely," said Justin but then he remembered the Navyfeather Clan's legend. Features the bizarre birds possessed that familiar birds lacked was key.

"Wait a second," he said, "That must be one of the bizarre birds from the legend."

"Oh yeah," said Jojo. The others then felt the same realisation come over them and they talked amongst themselves. However, Kira and Aiden maintained their sour looks. Then Miranda said, "Well, now that we have found one of the creatures from the legend," she gazed at the cloaked creature, "I wonder if there are others like it."

Suddenly, Miranda and the others jumped out of their skins as the cloaked creature spoke.

"Of course there is," it said in a feminine voice. A wing with three claws on it rose and then grasped the leafy mask. Then the creature removed its mask, revealing a blue-eyed face with a reptilian-looking beak.

"In fact, there is a whole group of them that live in this large, enclosed ravine," continued the creature. She then moved the leafy hood back, revealing a frizzy collection of thin head feathers. The macaws stared at her.

"So, what sort of creatures are you and what's your name?" asked Carla. The creature gazed back at her.

"We're archaeobirds," she said, "And my name's Andromeda."

"Andromeda?" repeated Neytiri in fascination, "That's a nice name."

Then the creature named Andromeda looked at the macaws up and down. "And what sort of birds are you lot? Are you a species of single-winged archaeobirds or something?"

"No," said Bia, "We're macaws."

"We're from the outside," said Carla. Then suddenly, the grass rustled again and another cloaked creature and two others, all three similar to Andromeda, emerged from the grass. One was the same height as Andromeda and had metallic blue feathers but dark blue eyes while the other two were larger. One also had dark metallic blue feathers but green eyes while the other had lighter metallic blue feathers and blue eyes. A ridge of feathers stretched out along the brow of the creature's face, giving him the appearance of a fictional race of aliens from a very famous science fiction series some of the macaws had sometimes seen during their time in Rio.

"Macaws, Andromeda?" said one of the creatures in a male voice, "Didn't eight of those nine birds that we found last night claim to be called that?"

"I don't know, Anakin but it seems like it," said Andromeda as she gazed at Carla and her group. Then the three creatures removed their masks and hoods and looked at the macaws. the largest one, a male with a sheet of feathers on the back of his head, gazed at Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Matilda and Justin and then at Kira with curious green eyes.

"Those eight resemble that bright blue bird back at our home, Andromeda," he said, "While that blue and yellow bird," he nodded to Brooke, "Resembles those two blue and yellow birds…"

When Brooke heard this, she raised her head in hope.

"You know where Virgil, Mimas, Titan and the others are?" she asked. The others apart from Kira and Aiden looked on hopefully as well. Then the big male looked at them.

"Those three said their names were those," he said, "While the red, green and blue bird said her name was Stella or something like that, the small blue bird was named Triton…"

"A strange pinkish bird with a funny red and yellow crest and a brown and beige bird with lethal looking talons and beak are also present," said the light blue creature, also a male. At this, Carla and the others jumped up in joy and hope.

"Can you take us to them?" asked Carla. The big male creature shook his head in surprise.

"Are you friends of theirs?" he asked.

"Virgil is Justin and Matilda's brother," said Carla, pointing to Matilda and Justin, "Blueberry is Charon's sister, and the rest are our friends including that falcon called Velocity and the cockatoo called Milo."

"How did you find them?" asked Oberon.

"We found them in the jungle last night," said Andromeda, "Eight of them were laying on the forest floor unconscious which we brought to our home while the other one, that brown and beige bird who says is a falcon was found much, much later, in the early hours of the morning, lost and confused with an injured talon."

"We hastily whisked her away from one of those predatory bat-birds," said the large male, "It's a good thing we found her first otherwise she would have been prey to that giant creature."

"Predatory bat-birds?" repeated Tiago confused.

"They're the largest of the bat-bird species," said Andromeda, a dark look in her eyes, "And are the top predators of this area. They are extremely dangerous. Daddy got injured by one once while Anakin and I were still chicks and when Ophiuchus here was a youngster."

"He could have died," said the large male named Ophiuchus, "He's got three large scars across his belly from where the bat-bird struck with its foot claws. He's ever so lucky to be alive, he is."

Carla and the others, at this, shuddered. They could not imagine coming face to face with a giant featherless bird-like creature that was larger than a harpy eagle. If harpy eagles were terrifying, what would those giant bat-birds be like? None of the macaws dared think about that. Suddenly, the quiet air above the group was fissured by a blood-curdling screech. The macaws all flinched but Andromeda, Anakin, Ophiuchus and the other male creature, or 'archaeobird' as we should now call them, were flooded with immense dread, and gazed into the air.

"What is that?" asked Jojo, his feathers on end and his crest feathers spiked out.

"Is it an eagle?" asked Lavender, her ponytail flared out. Another blood-curdling screech exploded and Andromeda shot Carla and the others a frightened glare.

"That's the sound of the creature we were just talking about," she said in a low and dark voice, "The sound of the same type of creature that injured Dad all those years ago."

The fires of dread and terror burned higher inside everyone as another screech sounded. Bia gazed back at the archaeobirds with fright-filled hazel eyes.

"Those giant predatory bat-birds you mean?" she timidly asked.

"You're exactly right, blue bird," said Anakin with a frown. Then the next set of words exploded from Andromeda's reptile snout-like beak as a shadow came over the group.

"RUN LIKE THE WIND BEFORE THAT CREATURE DECIDES TO ATTACK US!"

And with that, the macaws all lofted into flight. The bag carriers seized the two bags and carried them while Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre seized the terrified Kira and Aiden and carried them away. While the macaws flew on, Andromeda, Ophiuchus, Anakin and the other male archaeobird, donning their leafy cloaks and masks once again, began to skip through the vegetation on the ground floor, heading towards the nearest tree. Carla and her group then began to hurry through the jungle while the four archaeobirds scrambled up a tree and took off, gliding with their fore-wings spread out and wing-like legs positioned. Bia and Ganymede stole a glance at the four archaeobirds as they glided and were amazed at their adeptness in the air despite not being able to actually fly like they could. However, they did not have time to question this and had to get out of the danger as the shadow of a large creature glided over the ground. The creature's shape appeared bird-like but the wings appeared to be one piece. Phoebe, Azul, Miranda and Oberon flashed a glance at the owner of the shadow. They couldn't quite see the creature due to the cover of trees but they got glimpses of the terrifying creature.

The creature appeared to have a long beak extending out the front of its head which was connected to a large, barrel-shaped body loaded with powerful muscles. Extending laterally were large wings and Phoebe saw that these wings were not made of feathers, but skin membranes, like a bat's. The appearance of the wings sent shivers down Phoebe's spine for the wings reminded her of the dreaded flying foxes back home. However, these wings were different from a bat's. Instead of being supported by long four digits as in a bat's wings, the creature's wings were supported by one very long finger. The creature's body was also featherless, and was covered in fine hair-like filaments that glinted in the sunlight. The feet of the creature were clawed, armed with lethal conical blades like knives. The featherless bird-like animal was massive and the biggest flying creature Carla and her group had ever seen. It was larger than a female harpy eagle and its wingspan would easily be longer than a flying fox's. However, the creature was small enough for jungle life. As the creature continued screeching in the air, Bia said, "I've read of pterosaur species with wingspans stretching as wide as _fifteen metres_ before," she then flashed a glance at the creature as it continued chasing them through the jungle, "But these smaller creatures certainly are terrifying with wingspans as wide as three metres, much less fifteen. That must be a pterosaur."

"The bat-birds from the legend," said Tiago. He cried in terror as the creature, which was a pterosaur or a 'bat-bird' as they are often called by Andromeda and the others, emitted another explosive screech that sent shivers coursing down his spine. Kira and Aiden, as they were carried by Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre, flashed Carla and the others a confused look.

"Pterosaur?" asked Kira.

"Aren't those flying reptiles supposed to be extinct?" asked Aiden. He flinched and cried as he was startled by another screech from the bat-bird. Aiden's eyes then gazed at the featherless bird-like creature and he began to whimper in extreme fear. He had never been so afraid in his life for the fear was even worse than the fear he had felt when facing those two harpy eagles. As the group continued flying along, Andromeda came gliding by. She and the three males were gliding from tree to tree, landing on one tree before taking off and gliding to another.

"Do these bat-birds hunt by day or night?" asked Justin. Andromeda flashed him a glance.

"Either," she said, "They usually hunt whenever they are hungry. That's why we must be extremely careful while out here, day or night."

"I think that's why outsiders like you lot always avoid this place," said Anakin as he landed on a tree and took off into another glide, "We rarely ever have visitors from outside this giant ravine. Those bat-birds are lethal and will hunt any creature they lay their eyes on with no qualms of what species they are."

"So we could essentially be macaw meat for those creatures?" asked Charon as Neytiri flew alongside him, clearly terrified.

"If given the opportunity," said Andromeda, "Yes."

Charon shuddered and continued flying on. The group continued flying through the jungle, keeping to the cover of the narrow trees as ordered by Andromeda, which they did. Below them, theropod lizards and some other strange animals that were supposed to be extinct dashed for the cover of the bushes. The terrifying bat-bird continued its pursuit, screeching loudly until it finally broke off the chase. Screeching in frustration, it admitted that its hunt was unsuccessful and soared off to somewhere else in the giant ravine, hoping to some other prey to catch and eat. As soon as the bat-bird had left, Andromeda, Carla and the others slowed down and then eventually stopped. They all landed in a large tree, puffing and panting. Andromeda then lifted her mask and scanned the sky while Carla and the others, and Ophiuchus, Anakin and the other male archaeobird took the opportunity to rest. Jojo, Lavender and Alexandre placed Kira and Aiden onto a branch.

"That… was… close," gasped Io between breaths, her wing on her chest, "That sure… was more… terrifying… than being… chased by… a harpy eagle, that's for sure."

"Has that bat-bird gone, Androm… whatever your name is?" asked Carla. Andromeda looked at the chubby Spix macaw.

"Yes," she said, "It must have abandoned its hunt to try its luck elsewhere."

"How come those giant bat-birds never leave this ravine, anyway?" asked Tiago.

"I believe it's because of the likelihood of facing competition outside," said Anakin, "But that's just an opinion. The real reason is unknown."

"Yes," said the other male archaeobird in agreement, "And as for us archaeobirds, we also rarely venture outside the ravine as well."

"Why's that?" asked Carla.

"We'll explain that later," said Andromeda, "Let's get back to our tree and reunite you with the nine birds we found last night."

She then turned to the lighter metallic blue male and said, "Spock, could you lead the way please?"

The lighter blue male archaeobird named Spock nodded and with that, he began to lead the group of macaws in the direction of said tree, where his, Andromeda's, Ophiuchus's and Anakin's clan lived. As the macaws followed Spock with Andromeda, Ophiuchus and Anakin closely behind, Alexandre shot Carla, Bia and Tiago a jubilant smile.

"Just wait until our parents back home hear about all this," he said excitedly, "They'll going to be thunderstruck."

"Yeah, especially Uncle Neptune and Aunt Ultramarine and the other Navyfeather hyacinth macaws," said Carla.

"I'm so glad we came here," said Tiago, "It really has paid off. Now all we need to do is prepare to find the treasure deposit."

"And save the sanctuary," said Bia. The others nodded in agreement. Then the macaws continued following their four new archaeobird friends through the jungle.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19-** **meet Andromeda's clan and a reunion**

A while later, Andromeda and her brothers Ophiuchus and Anakin and the other archaeobird named Spock who was the cousin of the former three, arrived at their clan's home patch with Carla and company.

"This," said Andromeda gesturing to a large structure, "Is our home."

As Carla, Bia, Tiago and Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Matilda and the others' eyes landed on the structure which turned out to be a giant, towering tree, the macaws all drew in awed breaths. The tree was enormous, as tall as a sequoia tree, or the General Sherman tree Bia and Ganymede had once read about in a book of flora and fauna of North America. However, it had rather unusual features. Its giant trunk, whose diameter was around ten metres, looked like a lock of smaller trunks twisted into a spiral. The giant trunk spiralled upward towards the sky, branching and subdividing towards the top. The branches ended in huge clusters of broad leaves, so complex that it took Carla and company's breaths away. Even Kira and Aiden could not believe the enormity of the tree. At the base, the spiralling trunk cluster disappeared into the earth. The tree was so massive that it could possibly house an entire clan of macaws at once. Io, Sheldon, Alexandre, Ganymede, Brooke, Miranda and Oberon then noticed the giant tree to be dotted with small, colourful metallic sheened specks, indicating the presence of other archaeobirds like Andromeda and her two brothers and cousins. The shape of the tree and how it was large enough to possibly accommodate all of Andromeda's clan reminded Bia and some of the others of a science-fiction film called _Avatar_ which featured towering trees large enough to accommodate a clan of blue-skinned aliens called Na'vi. The twisting trunk cluster and the fact there were archaeobirds dotting the giant plant, or possibly cluster of plants. The branches had dozens of archaeobirds flying to and from them while at the base, more archaeobirds swarmed the ground up to various activities.

"This is where our entire clan lives," said Ophiuchus to the macaws. He nodded at the branches above and said, "The branches are the site where some of our clan members, those who have tamed and trained and ride on bat-birds, take off and land."

"Wait a minute," said Bia, "I thought you said that bat-birds were dangerous, predatory animals."

"That species of giant bat-bird was," said Ophiuchus, "But there are some species of bat-birds that are as small as us. Those species mainly eat fruit, small animals and insects but not us, so they are safe to train and use as aerial transport."

"COOOOOL," cried Tiago, his brown eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Sounds like you live in complex harmony with the ecosystem," said Alexandre.

"How long has that big tree been your home?" asked Miranda.

"Generations," said Andromeda proudly, "In fact since our distant ancestors found this spot. It's large enough to accommodate a clan; it is sturdy and powerful enough to withstand severe storms…"

"There had been a powerful storm last night," said Anakin, "Obviously that made flying on our small bat-birds dangerous due to the torrential rains and high winds."

"Storm?" repeated Carla, "That was the same storm that separated us during our journey to here."

"We also believe was what sent those nine outsider birds into our jungle," said Spock, "It is common that outsider birds may end up blown here by powerful wind gusts."

Carla, Bia and Tiago gazed at the young aqua blue metallic blue archaeobird with surprise. Then as Ophiuchus, Spock, Anakin and Andromeda led Carla and the others through the crowd of archaeobirds, the macaws looked around them. It seemed that clan life in this flock of bizarre birds was very similar to that of their tribes and clans back in Brazil. Young archaeobirds played or were being taught by the older ones, adults chatted or prepared for foraging trips while some more adults brought in foraged fruit and Jojo and Lavender thought they saw two dead lizards, apparently freshly hunted and killed, being carried by two of the archaeobirds towards the entrance to the giant tree.

"This way," said Andromeda. Carla, Bia and Tiago and the others followed the four archaeobirds through the flock. The macaws were greeted by curious and awed faces from the onlookers as they passed. Neytiri felt a bit frightened by the pairs of eyes that gazed at the group and huddled against Charon and Phoebe.

"I wonder if this clan had seen other outsiders like us," said Azul as he looked around at the curious archaeobirds. Then Phoebe looked ahead.

"I think those two over there must be the clan leaders," she said. At this, the other macaws followed her gaze and saw two tall archaeobirds, a male and a female, walk forward and greet Andromeda, Spock, Ophiuchus and Anakin. The two archaeobirds appeared to be in their old age for their metallic feathers, which were dark blue like their two sons and daughter, were strewn with silver. The male had bags under his eyes, which were a shade of blue like Andromeda's while the female did not. Her eyes were a shade of sea-green. The male seemed to wear some sort of head decoration made from flowers, fruit shells and leaves. Carla, Bia and Tiago assumed this must be the leader's headdress based on how elaborate and complex the decoration was. Then Ganymede and Io noticed three large gashes of scar tissue slashing across the male's torso and flinched, remembering how he had sustained a savage claw attack from a giant predatory bat-bird as stated by Andromeda and Ophiuchus.

"He sure must have faced a serious attack," murmured Jojo in awe, "He sure is lucky to have survived it."

"Here they come," said Lavender. At this, the eighteen macaws prepared themselves to meet Andromeda and her brothers' parents, and Spock's aunt and uncle, who were indeed the leaders of the clan. Aiden and Kira, who were still tied up in the vines and tough twigs, looked on bitterly.

"Guys," said Andromeda, "I would like you to meet our daddy Talonclaw and mommy Otulissa."

"They are also my aunt and uncle," said Spock. At this, the macaws all lined up and kindly greeted the elderly pair with polite wing-shakes and an utter of greeting. Carla blushed as she shook wings with Talonclaw, the male and Andromeda and her brothers' father while Bia and Tiago smiled. As Matilda, Justin, Brooke, Phoebe and Azul greeted the leaders; Jojo shot Kira and Aiden a fierce look.

"You can wipe those sour looks off your faces," growled he.

"Why should we?" snapped Kira bitterly. Aiden just looked on and said nothing. At this, Spock came over, curious about the two macaws' foul attitudes.

"What's up with them two?" he asked. Jojo turned to him.

"They're from a gang of outsider birds who aren't nice," he said, "We bumped into that gang and these two were forced to come along with us after their so-called friends abandoned them."

"We were force to tie them up as they threatened to bring in that gangster bunch," put in Lavender.

"Don't call Ilosovic and his gang our 'so-called friends' or badmouth them, mop-head and ponytailed eagle-face," spat Aiden sourly, much to Jojo and Lavender's enraged reaction and glare. Spock shot the feisty glaucous and Spix macaws a glare of his own.

"Well, I hope these two aren't troublemakers," he said in a stern and suspicious voice, "Because if they are, we will drive them out."

"We don't tolerate hostile outsiders who threaten harm to our clan and friends," said Anakin firmly. At this, Kira and Aiden shot the two archaeobirds a shocked look. Jojo and Lavender then backed up Spock and Anakin's statement with a nod. At this, the two macaws begrudgingly agreed to behave. When Talonclaw and Olutissa came to the two, Aiden and Kira reluctantly said hello. However, Jojo and Lavender had untied the two before the two leaders came to them. After this, Talonclaw looked at Andromeda and said, "I presume this lot are the friends of the nine birds you had found and brought in last night, am I right?"

"The bright blue parrot whose name begins with a 'V' kept talking about them," said Otulissa, much to Carla and company's hopeful joy.

"Yes, Mommy," said Andromeda, "We've brought them here to meet them."

"Then let's take them to our compartment where those nine birds are waiting for them," said Talonclaw and with that, he, Otulissa, Andromeda, Ophiuchus, Anakin and Spock led Carla and the others into the tree. As the group entered the base of the giant tree, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Matilda, Justin, and Io, Sheldon, Ganymede, Alexandre, Brooke, Miranda, Oberon, Azul, Phoebe, Charon and Neytiri all widened their eyes in amazement. The inside of the tree was honeycombed, with numerous bubbles the group had heard from Talonclaw were called 'compartments'. Dozens of archaeobirds, all width wing-like legs and long, wavering tails ending in a fan of feathers, decorated the inside of the multi-trunk spiral, climbing and gliding about. The metallic plumages of the archaeobirds practically made the inside of the tree resemble something at Christmas. The archaeobirds' plumages came in a variety of metallic colours, present in a variety of combinations. Reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, violets, pinks and even browns, silvers and blacks sparkled in the sun shafts that shone through holes in the compartments. The tail feather arrangement of the archaeobirds also appeared to vary. Some had full-fan tail feathers while some had heart-shaped or butterfly wing-like arrangements. Some also had long tail feathers sticking out from the very tip of the tail from the fan, similar to the tail feathers of bee-eaters, motmots or tropicbirds. Bia and Ganymede gazed at the colourful flock.

"If any poachers saw this lot," whispered Ganymede, "They wouldn't hesitate to tach them and sell them for a seriously high price."

"They are extremely rare and unusual, these legendary bizarre birds, I can tell you," said Matilda. Behind her, Kira and Aiden just looked ahead, disinterested. Then Andromeda, her parents, cousin and two brothers began to scale the wall using their wing claws and foot claws to cling on the rough surface of the wall.

"We're gonna have to fly up," said Carla and with that, the macaws all opened their wings and took off. The bag carriers carried the two bags with them and Kira and Aiden reluctantly followed. Hovering in the air, the macaws followed Andromeda and her family up the wall right up to the top of the tree, ascending through the cloud of glittery four-winged dinosaur-like birds. It took a while to get to the top but in the end, Andromeda indicated to the macaws that they had reached her parents' compartment. At this, Carla and her group, relieved after hovering for so long, fluttered towards the rim of the compartment and touched down. As they entered, Justin pointed and shouted, "LOOK!"

At this, all the other seventeen pairs of eyes followed Justin's point until they landed on a small group of familiar birds, who were dozing on what appeared to be a large nest made from leaves, feathers and twigs. Seven were macaws (with one being an electric blue Spix, another being a green-winged, two being blue-and-gold, one glaucous, one chestnut-fronted and the other a young light blue hyacinth), the eighth was a cockatoo, a half sulfur-crested, half Major Mitchell's based on his plumage colours and crest and the other an immature peregrine falcon. All nine still had their fanny packs around their waists and Carla, Bia and Tiago were alarmed to see that Velocity's right talon was wrapped in a leaf. However, they didn't care about that and Carla, Bia and Tiago shouted the nine birds' names.

"Virgil, Estelle, Mimas," said Carla, tears of relief in her eyes.

"Triton, Blueberry, Alessandro," said Bia.

"Milo, Velocity, Titan," said Tiago. At this, the nine birds all stirred and looked up.

"Unngh, who's that?" groaned Virgil tiredly. When his eyes landed on the familiar eighteen macaws, especially his brother and sister and two cousins as they bounded toward him to hug him, Virgil was flooded with immense joy.

"Carla, Bia, Tiago, guys!" cried the electric blue macaw ecstatically. He was then locked in a hug by Justin, Matilda, Jojo and Lavender. The hug was so hard that Virgil felt the breath get drawn out of him. Then Carla, Bia and Tiago rushed over to Virgil and hugged him as well while Alexandre, Io, Sheldon and Ganymede hugged Estelle, Brooke hugged Titan and Mimas, and Phoebe, Azul, Charon, Neytiri, Miranda and Oberon hugged Blueberry, Velocity, Milo, Alessandro and Triton in a tight group hug. Relief and joy of the reunion fired up inside all twenty-seven birds as they all cried and wept. Andromeda, Ophiuchus, Anakin and Spock, together with Talonclaw and Otulissa, looked on with smiles on their faces but Kira and Aiden's looks were the opposite. They were laced with disinterest and sulk. Then after the twenty-seven birds broke their large group hug, Virgil gazed into Carla, Bia and Tiago's eyes.

"It's true, folks," said Virgil ecstatically, "The myth really is true."

"When we saw we were in the mythical place," said Triton, "I could not believe it."

"I asked about the treasure deposit as well," said Alessandro. The eighteen macaws looked at him hopefully. Andromeda and her family exchanged glances and shrugged, not understanding the 'myth' thing.

"What answer you get?" asked Carla. Alessandro jumped up and said, "There is a treasure deposit somewhere in the ravine. It's called the Cave of Colours and Sparkles."

At this, the fire of jubilation flared even higher as Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others released whoops of joy and jumps of excitement. Velocity and Milo, who had tagged along in the beginning, had been unable to believe their eyes and ears. In fact they even thought of it as a dream but it was no dream at all. It was reality, and the reality of the Sanctuary de Amazon's rescue from the debt problem with it. Then it dawned upon Carla and the other seventeen. Virgil, Blueberry, Alessandro, Triton, Estelle, Mimas and Titan must have explained to Talonclaw and his family about how their home land was a protected nature reserve and how some debt crisis threatening to remove that status and why they needed to visit the Cave of Colours and Sparkles to collect some of its deposit of gold and gem-like minerals to bring back to Brazil. Though the Cave of Colours and Sparkles was a beautiful site, in the archaeobird clan's eyes, it was nothing more than a mere deposit of yellow and colourful stuff, which the archaeobirds had no use for. However, Talonclaw and his family had been surprised that humans valued that kind of thing, and when they heard of the word 'human', they had reacted in revulsion, calling them 'persistent hunters that hunt animals to extinction'. However, when Virgil had explained about how some humans were well-meaning and how they were working hard to conserve rare and endangered species, Talonclaw had become sceptical.

Then after the group had calmed down, Talonclaw stepped forward.

"Well, it is nice to meet you lot," he said, "And we would love to take you guys to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles, but I must warn you lot." He made a serious look on his face.

The macaws, Velocity and Milo gazed at him, despairing looks on their faces.

"What do you mean, sir?" asked Carla confused. Then Otulissa stepped forward.

"The mouth of the Cave is on the other side of the ravine," she said, "But between it and here, there are a variety of dangerous creatures that roam the area."

Kira and Aiden just sat down and continued to stare into space, sour looks on their faces like usual.

"What creatures?" asked Ganymede.

"Well, there are obviously the giant predatory bat-birds," said Otulissa. She then nodded to Talonclaw who showed them the massive scar on his torso. "My mate Talonclaw here had a very narrow escape from one some years ago during a hunting trip into the jungle…"

"I can see that," said Bia in horror.

"They're very dangerous flying creatures and the apex predator of this area," said Talonclaw, "You don't want to mess with them," he stole a glance at Andromeda, Ophiuchus, Anakin and Spock and added, "It's a good thing you ran into these four before one of them animals spotted you. They'll turn any outsider bird into dinner, regardless of what type of bird you are."

Velocity shuddered as she remembered seeing one of the giant bat-birds last night. That was why the group of archaeobirds that had found her had hastily whisked her away. Obviously coming face to face with one of those bat-birds was more dangerous than confronting a harpy eagle.

"The other dangerous creatures," continued Talonclaw, "are some of the raptor-lizards that live in packs, a herd of fan-backed lizards, and also croc-fish…"

As Talonclaw mentioned these strange-sounding animals, Bia and Ganymede looked at each other.

"Seems like some of the other supposed-to-be-extinct creatures have escaped extinction too," whispered Bia. Ganymede nodded.

"It's part of the myth," whispered Triton, "Some of the strange animals has survived extinction along with the bizarre birds, bat-birds and strange lizards."

"…and also some animals that resemble the animals that live outside the Great Rocky Wall," said Talonclaw which Carla and the others assumed was the cliff wall enclosing the patch of rainforest, "such as snakes and dangerous amphibians and other reptiles."

"Some of those snakes are capable of swallowing animals our size whole while some are lethally venomous," said Ophiuchus, "and there are a lot of them nearer to the mouth of the Cave of Colours and Sparkles. Only a few archaeobirds can communicate with those snakes so that we can safely pass them. We will enlist the help of the single-winged archaeobird clan members during our trip to the cave."

"Can't we just fly over them?" asked Justin.

"I'm afraid that's not an option," said Talonclaw, "If you were to do that, you'd be easy prey to predatory bat-birds and there are also plenty of them roaming near the Cave's mouth as well. The giant predatory bat-bird is not the only meat-eating creature that lives here. There are several other species like it but slightly smaller but just as dangerous."

"That is why it is important that you guys will need to be escorted to the Cave's entrance," said Otulissa. Andromeda then hardened her serious gaze.

"And also you must make sure to stay by our sides at all times," she added.

"Also, when we get to the cave," Talonclaw added, "You will also need plenty of courage to negotiate the cave itself. There are a few narrow passages you will need to contend with, and such passages are not suitable for the claustrophobic," some of the macaws, such as Alessandro and Jojo, shuddered for they did not like enclosed spaces, "But we will get to that when we reach the safety of the cave's mouth."

Carla and the others shuddered at the dangers that lay ahead of them on the next part of the quest. However, the determination to save the Sanctuary de Amazon fired up the courage inside all twenty-seven birds, and Carla, Bia and Tiago stood up.

"Well, we're still gonna tackle those obstacles and harvest some of the Colours and Sparkles," said Carla, a determined look on her face and using the term the archaeobirds used to describe the treasure deposit in the cave for they did not refer to it as 'treasure' at all.

"Yeah, we have a sanctuary to save," said Bia.

"We will follow your instructions and directions during our trip there," said Tiago, his wings around Jojo and Matilda. Lavender, Justin, Virgil, together with Io, Ganymede, Sheldon, Estelle and Alexandre, and Titan, Mimas, Brooke, Miranda, Oberon, Triton, Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri, Azul, Phoebe and Alessandro, and Milo and Velocity all nodded in agreement though inside, some of them weren't sure about this. Kira and Aiden, at this, looked on in surprise.

"Those lot sure are brave," murmured the glaucous macaw. Kira could not say anything for she was too awestruck to formulate words. Talonclaw and his family and nephew Spock, at this, said, "Well, if you guys are willing to face the trials that lay ahead of you, then I hope you have plenty of courage."

"You're gonna need it," said Otulissa.

"And also teamwork if you're gonna carry those crystals of Colours and Sparkles from the deposit to outside after harvesting it," said Andromeda, "I can see you've got some sort of bag things to carry them in."

She looked at the fanny packs and the two bags Carla and company had with them. Carla's group all smiled.

"However, we'll set off on the trip tomorrow," said Talonclaw, "You guys have had a hard time getting here, I believe" he gazed at Virgil, Velocity, Milo and the other six that had been swept in by the storm, "Especially you nine after that stormy ordeal last night. So you all could do with some rest."

"Yes," said Ophiuchus, "It's gonna be a tiresome and demanding journey tomorrow, so you must be well rested and prepared."

At this, Jojo, Lavender and some of the others shot the archaeobirds a surprised look but Carla nodded in agreement to Talonclaw and his family's statement.

"It's just for one night, you lot," she said. This reassured the others and they accepted the offer before Carla turned to face Talonclaw and his family.

"I'd like to thank you lot for your hospitality," said Carla gratefully, "You are a big help."

"We thought you'd be reluctant to help us," said Bia. Talonclaw raised a wing and smiled.

"No problem, you lot," he said, "Since you outsider birds seem to be going through a crisis based on your honest description, we're more than happy to help out."

"Especially to get by the hazards on the way to the cave," said Andromeda.

Carla and her group smiled once again. Then Talonclaw turned to a group of archaeobirds standing outside the compartment's entrance who had been awaiting orders.

"Can you guys go down to the food storage compartment and collect some fruit and insects to prepare and serve to our guests please?" commanded Talonclaw. The group nodded and left for said destination.

"Um, one of us is a strict meat-eater," said Milo, pointing to Velocity.

"Oh, right," said Andromeda, "We're gonna need some meat then," she looked at Velocity, "Do you require specific types of meat?"

"Yes," said Velocity, "Preferably small birds or lizards or rodents but not fish as my species doesn't eat fish."

"A hunting party has just turned up with some freshly killed lizards and a shrew," said Ophiuchus, "I'll go down to them and ask them to prepare one of the lizards for the falcon."

"Okay, son, you do that," said Talonclaw. Ophiuchus then left the compartment to look for the hunting party.

"So, you eat a variety of foods," said Bia.

"We eat mostly fruit, fish, lizards and insects," said Otulissa, "But we also eat small birds and those rodents that roam the jungle as well. There is plenty of food to support us and the two-winged archaeobird clan that lives out in the jungle."

"An interesting ecosystem that lives here," said Ganymede with a fascinated smile.

"A what?" asked Anakin confused.

"It's a term for the interactions of all living things in a habitat or natural living place," explained Titan, "It's a human-made term."

"Those humans beyond the Great Rocky Wall sure seem to have some interesting ideas, don't they?" said Andromeda. The macaws, Velocity and Milo nodded. Then Talonclaw said, "Well, I think it's time we introduced our clan to these guests."

He turned to Otulissa and said, "Can you get the conch and blow the meeting call please?"

Otulissa nodded and left, Andromeda and Anakin following. Talonclaw then turned to Carla's group.

"Okay, follow me," he said and with that, he led the group out of his family's living compartment. As the group left, Kira and Aiden, as they followed, looked on.

"Those strange prehistoric-looking creatures sure seem to have an amazing aptitude for hospitality," said Aiden in a low voice.

"Yeah, but they also seem very against towards hostile outsiders," said Kira, "Do you think Ilosovic and his gang might be able to find this place?"

"Hey you two," called Jojo firmly, "Are you coming?"

At this, the glaucous and Spix macaws looked up at him who stood at the rim of the compartment leading to the space with Lavender, Alexandre and Miranda, impatient looks on their faces. At this, Kira and Aiden, this time without any childish moaning or hesitation, followed before descending with the four macaws after the others.

 **Meanwhile**

Around the animal hospital, a macaw patrol was flying by, carrying out their usual job. The group of macaws consisted of some scarlet and green-winged macaws, blue-and-gold macaws, Spix macaws and a few macaws from the smaller groups. With the group were Jupiter, Chiquitita, Alessandro's parents named Murphy and Abigail from the chestnut-fronted macaw group, Jairo and his daughter Mariposa from the blue-headed macaw group, Roberto and Sheldon's parents, a male scarlet macaw named Ramon and his green-winged macaw mate Dani. The group was led by Roberto and he was leading the group to check the area around the animal hospital. As they flew past the front of the building, Jupiter looked down and saw a familiar group of people talking. He managed to pick out Tulio, Lucy and Francisco, three of the humans he knew very well. However, their facial expressions troubled him.

"They and their team certainly don't look very happy," he murmured to the others, "I can tell you."

Then Chiquitita slowed down and used her keen sense of hearing to pick up some of Tulio's words. Because her hearing was so acute, she could hear a pin drop several metres away. Phobos also had this feature, likely inherited from her. The rest of the patrol group slowed down.

"What is it, Chiqutita?" asked Ramon. Chiquitita raised a talon to tell him to be quiet. She then began to speak the words uttered from Tulio's mouth, her eyes closed to heighten her concentration.

"'We still need… a lot… more income… folks' says Tulio," she said. Then she picked up Lucy's speech.

"'But Tulio… we've found… what income… we could… find…' says Lucy."

"But we still… have a vast… amount of… debt to… get paid…' says Tulio, 'and the deadline… is only… three weeks… away…"

Jupiter and the others gazed at the group of humans as they continued talking while Chiquitita continued to listen to their words.

"'I'm sorry… Tulio', says another human, 'We've looked… everywhere for… other sources… but… we could not find… anything else… that would… help pay… off the debt… in time… as the debt is… too high…'"

Chiquitita then opened her eyes and shot Jupiter and the others a saddened look. Mariposa gazed at the group of humans below as she hovered near Jairo.

"Are they still struggling with the debt?" asked Roberto. But based on the sombre look on Chiquitita's face, the other macaws took it as a 'yes'. Then Alessandro's parents, Murphy and Abigail, uttered despairing moans.

"Those humans honestly don't deserve this," muttered Murphy, "They have worked ever so hard to get this part of the Amazon set up as a sanctuary."

"And now all their effort's gonna go to waste due to some debt or whatever it's called," said Abigail.

"Well, we don't know or understand how the system works," said Ramon, "But my guess is, they're not gonna meet the demands in time."

"Absolutely not," said Dani. Then another thought came to Jairo's mind.

"And as for Carla's group," he muttered, "When they get back from their trip to Rio, they are all gonna be in deep, deep trouble, and I do mean deep."

"Yeah, absolutely," said Murphy angrily as he and Abigail thought about Alessandro. The two had been outraged that their son had left for Rio when he had been grounded, based on Charlotte and Felix's description when they, along with Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa had come to visit the chestnut-fronted macaw group to tell them where Alessandro had gone. Mariposa flinched at the tone of voice of Alessandro's parents. However, she daren't mention the Bizarre Bird/Treasure myth for her parents had strictly forbidden her from even mentioning it. The other macaws in the patrol group, including some blue-and-gold macaws from Soleado's tribe, looked on worriedly. Then Jupiter saw Tulio begin to break down yet again and lament about the macaws and other animals, especially the Spix, the Lear's and the glaucous macaws in the Sanctuary de Amazon and how they will become vulnerable to going extinct once the Sanctuary de Amazon's status is lost by the deadline of the debt, and that deadline was now three weeks away. Troubled by this, Jupiter suddenly felt a talon on his shoulder.

"Let's go, Jupiter," said Roberto. Jupiter, at this, gazed at the group of humans and Tulio one final time, eyes filled with sympathy and flew off after the other patrollers. As the group left, Mariposa stared out into the sky.

"Oh, Carla and the rest of you," she murmured sombrely, "I hope you lot will return soon with the treasure."

Sadly, she followed Jairo and the others as the patrol group disappeared into the trees to continue their job.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20- talks about histories and Kira and Aiden begin to doubt their loyalty to Ilosovic and his gang**

Carla and her group spent the rest of the day relaxing with their new and strange friends. They had a lot to prepare for in the morning for it was going to be a hazardous trip to the cave. Since the deadline for the debts back in Rio was a few weeks away and that they were going to go on the treasure trip tomorrow, there was currently no rush. The group dined at the entrance to the archaeobird clan's giant tree cluster. Andromeda, Talonclaw, Otulissa and some other archaeobirds had given the macaws and Milo fruit and insects to eat and Velocity a lizard and a small mammal. As the macaws, Milo and Velocity ate, they chatted. Velocity gazed at the unusual mammal given to her.

"This creature's not like any mouse or shrew I've come across," she said. The mammal resembled a weasel and had a long, pointed snout, a tail and hind legs like a rat's. Ganymede looked at it.

"I believe that creature is of the _Leptictidium_ species," he said.

" _Leptictidium_?" repeated Bia as she gazed at the carcass in Velocity's wings, "They're an extinct genus of mammals from the Paleogene period, aren't they?"

"It seems that this patch is also populated by bizarre mammals that had also survived extinction," said Io as she ate a fruit which appeared to be an ordinary guava. Carla, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Lavender and Jojo were too busy eating to talk for they were very hungry. Nearby, Sheldon, Alexandre and Estelle talked about home while Miranda, Oberon, Brooke, Titan and Mimas talked about the adventure so far. Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri, Triton, Phoebe, Milo, Alessandro and Azul, who sat with Aiden and Kira, also talked when Milo noticed an archaeobird standing before a group of archaeobird chicks talk about something on a slab of wood erected against a rock. The slab of wood had figures drawn on it, and Milo thought he could recognise some of the shapes to be humans.

"What drawings are those on that piece of wood over there?" he asked. Charon and Blueberry, at this, began to listen to the teacher as he gestured with his wing claws and talked.

"…most animals were hunted by humans for various reasons," said the teacher, "One of the main reasons was food and hide for clothing. During the Ice Age, it was believed that the sabre-toothed cats and woolly mammoths were among some of those animals that were hunted by humans for their fur and their meat during that time period…"

"They know about the Ice Age?" asked Charon in surprise. Then a clawed wing of one of the chicks shot up and the teacher pointed to her.

"Were the sabre-toothed cats and mammoths' meat and fur also used for selling by the humans?" she asked.

"We're not sure," replied the teacher, "All we know is that these two types of Ice Age mammals were hunted by humans based on survival reasons. Their thick fur obviously made great clothes during the frigid temperatures of the time period while their meat was a food source, obviously because plants would have been sparse during the Ice Age period…"

"Of course plants would have been sparse," said Phoebe, "It would have been too cold for most of them to grow."

"What's that?" asked Triton when he saw the teacher erect another slab of wood up, showing some paintings of some more Ice Age mammals. One of them resembled a squirrel chasing after an acorn.

"And because the majority of plants suffered greatly due to the Ice Age conditions," continued the teacher, gesturing to the paintings, "Plant eaters had to adapt to whatever plant material remained," he gestured to the squirrel drawing, "This species of squirrel, which had fangs like a sabre-toothed cat, lived on a diet of acorns which it would store for the harsh times ahead when food was scarce…"

"It's a natural history lesson," said Milo when he finally realised what subject the lesson was on, "On the Ice Age specifically."

"Well, if the archaeobirds had survived going extinct," said Triton, "Then they must have lived through the Ice Age when mammoths and sabre-toothed cats had been around."

"Interesting," said Azul. Carla, Tiago, Jojo, Justin, Lavender, Matilda and Virgil continued eating while Bia had begun to draw pictures of the archaeobirds while eating at the same time. As the Spix macaws ate, Andromeda came by eating some insects from a folded leaf similar to how humans ate popcorn from a tub.

"So, you guys are called 'Spix macaws', am I right?" she asked.

"We are, yes," said Carla, "Our species is extremely rare and critically endangered."

"There is a flock of us that lives in Brazil," said Justin, "But before the Spix macaw tribe was discovered by some human friends of ours, Carla and our families were the last known Spix macaws alive."

"Carla, Bia and my mother's name is Jewel and our father's name is Blu," said Tiago. He then nodded to Justin, Matilda and Virgil and said, "The parents of these three and their sister named Charlotte are called Venus, their mother and Zephyr, their father."

"We, along with Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Charlotte's father's sister, were the last twelve Spix macaws alive," said Carla, "And our human friends were devoted to keeping our species, and the Lear's and glaucous macaws, two more critically endangered macaw species, alive and from going extinct."

Andromeda listened with intrigue while Jojo and Lavender, who had not been born during those events, just listened. However, they already knew about Carla, Justin and their families' history for they had been told by them. Then Matilda nodded to Phoebe and then to Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri as they continued watching the class.

"Phoebe over there is a Lear's macaw," she said, "While Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri are of the even rarer glaucous macaw species. Phoebe has a family like we do. She has two younger sisters named Jasmine and Annette, a mother called Sapphire and a father called Mercury. Charon and Blueberry have a younger brother called Quincy and sister called Flor and their mother's name is Lapis Lazuli and their father's name, Pluto."

Andromeda gazed at Blueberry, Charon and Neytiri. "And who is the other macaw, the one with the oddly twisted ponytail, next to them?" she asked, nodding to Neytiri.

"Oh, that's Neytiri but she's not related to Charon and Blueberry," said Virgil, "She comes from a flock of glaucous macaws also discovered to live in Brazil."

"But before that flock's discovery," said Tiago, "Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor were the very last family of glaucous macaws alive."

"So it seems that there are some humans beyond the Great Rocky Wall who do care about animals?" said Andromeda surprised. This was confirmed by the nods of Carla, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Lavender and Jojo.

"They also care about our habitat since we need it to survive," said Jojo.

"But… why are your species, and these other two macaw species that you've mentioned, so rare then?" asked Andromeda, "Is it because of poaching or loss of places to live?"

"That is exactly true," said Carla sadly, "Our species, then Spix macaw and Blueberry, Charon and Neytiri's species, the glaucous macaw, are two of the rare macaws that are sought after by poachers because we would sell for a lot of, something you might not know the name for but what humans call 'money'."

"That is why the nature-caring humans back in Brazil have set up our homes as a protected reserve to preserve our species and protect them from poachers and loggers," said Tiago, "But now the sanctuary, called the Sanctuary de Amazon, is threatened with a debt crisis which I won't go into as it is too complicated to explain. That is why we came over here to harvest some of the deposit you call the crystals of 'Colours and Sparkles'. We call it treasure."

"You mean those colourful crystals and the yellow sheened material?" said Andromeda. She then sighed. "You know, one of the things we will never understand is why materials like those are so valued greatly by humans."

"It's because they are rare," said Carla, "So they sell for a high price."

Then Jojo moved on. "I overheard you talk about wanting to see what is beyond the Great Rocky Wall. Is that right?"

"Yes," said Andromeda. She then gazed dreamily at the cliff enclosing the archaeobirds' jungle habitat. "I've always dreamed of venturing beyond those boundaries. Anakin, Spock and Ophiuchus also wish to do that as well but Mom and Dad are against us going out there because of the danger of humans…"

"So your kind's had a troublesome history with humans as well?" asked Lavender. Andromeda sighed and made a scowl.

"Yes," she said, "And so have the other animal species that live here. We have been hunted primarily for our appearances, not based on survival reasons like how the Ice Age creatures like the woolly mammoths were for their meat and thick fur. We have been so heavily hunted that we just moved into isolated places where humans either cannot find us or access us."

Andromeda then looked around and added, "This place is one example. Humans very, very rarely set foot in this patch, even rarer than outsider birds such as you lot. It is inhabited by highly dangerous creatures such as those giant bat-birds that are capable of dining on any outsider creature they lay their predatory eyes on. Furthermore, we have learned to hide from humans using ingenious methods such as through camouflage and stealth…"

She then gazed at the group of Spix macaws and added, "But to hear that there are humans who truly care for animals, especially those of rare species, and their habitats, I would like to see."

Andromeda smiled at this dream. Suddenly, a shrill squawk sounded. Carla, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Matilda, Justin and Virgil almost jumped out of their skins as a bat-bird, one of one of the smaller species and not the larger meat-eating ones that prey on outsiders and archaeobirds, swooped in and landed by Andromeda. At this, the Spix macaws gazed at the creature with intrigue. The bat-bird was slightly bigger than an adult Spix macaw and like all bat-birds; it had wings of skin supported by a single very long finger. Its feet were clawed but the bat-bird had slightly different features to the giant bat-birds Carla and the others had seen. The bat-bird's beak was full of teeth and a long, prehensile tail snaked from behind its body, ending in a diamond-shaped flap of skin. The creature's body was covered with hair-like filaments and there was a small ruffle of the strange hair-like filaments on the back of the creature's head. The creature's colour was reddish but its front, including its neck was white, and it had friendly eyes, and like all bat-birds, it walked on all fours. Based on the eye-lash-like hairs above its brown eyes, the creature appeared to be a female. Andromeda petted the animal with a wing-claw as the creature nuzzled against her side.

"This is Rouge, my bat-bird," said Andromeda, "Her name comes from the French word meaning 'red' because of her colour. I've heard of the word from a previous outsider who spoke French."

Carla, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender smiled at Rouge as she emitted some sort of purr from her throat.

"Many of my clan members ride these bat-birds," said Andromeda as Rouge then sat beside her, "We use them for hunting in the air and in aerial search-and-rescue tasks for lost clan members. However, we don't normally ride them at night due to the dangerous giant predatory bat-birds that tend to be on the prowl at night. Spock and Anakin have a bat-bird as well as do Mom and Dad but Ophiuchus has chosen not to ride one, preferring ground movement instead for he is quite agile. Being a bat-bird rider, however, is optional," Andromeda smiled at Rouge ad added, "I've been riding Rouge here for three years."

"Interesting," said Lavender as she smiled at Rouge as she enjoined being petted by Andromeda, her head moving up and down and her eyes closed. Lavender then moved on to another subject.

"Does your clan have a view that all humans are destructive?" asked she, "I know our tribes and clans had that view."

"The majority of them do," said Andromeda, "In fact they often refer to humans as 'persistent hunters that hunt animals to extinction'. My Mom and Dad especially hate humans, which is why they are against my desire to venture beyond the Great Rocky Wall to the outside land."

Andromeda then shook her head and brushed her frizzy head feathers back with her wing claws. "But to hear that there are well-meaning humans does seem interesting. Maybe they could help our kind and protect them from going extinct."

"I'm sure they will," said Carla, "But when you are discovered, you're gonna be called living fossils since humans believe your species to be extinct for millions of years."

"Or for a few millennia, depending on one's perspective," said Virgil. Andromeda, at this, shot Carla a confused look. "'Living fossils'?" she said.

"It's a name given to animals that are believed to be extinct with their remains known only from the fossil record," explained Justin, "Until a live specimen of said species has been found."

"A fish called the coelacanth is an example," said Tiago.

"There are some fossils buried in some rock layers that strongly resemble your kind," said Matilda.

"However, most scientists believe them to be ancestors of us birds," said Carla. Andromeda tipped her head to one side.

"I don't recall our kind being like ancestors to birds like you outsiders," she said. Carla, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Matilda, Justin and Virgil just looked at each other, seeing that there was no point in explaining this subject to Andromeda due to it being too complicated. Then Andromeda smiled.

"But you outsiders sure have some interesting things to talk about, nonetheless," she said.

"I guess we do," said Carla. Then Andromeda turned and saw Bia continue to draw some of the archaeobirds in her drawing book.

"That macaw sure is good at drawing," she said, "Is it her talent?"

"Bia's into nature and science, just like Ganymede over there," said Virgil with a nod to one of the scarlet macaws. "She sometimes quotes scientific facts and figures."

"My cousin Spock is into nature as well and is inquisitive about the natural world beyond the Great Rocky Wall as well," said Andromeda, "He's always talking about what sort of animals that could lie outside that rocky boundary."

"Oh, there are some awesome creatures," said Bia, momentarily distracted from her drawing, "But there are also some dangerous ones as well, like harpy eagles."

"I've heard of tales from previous visitors about those meat-eating birds," said Andromeda, "I reckon they must be terrifying."

"They are," said Carla with a shudder, "You'll see what we mean if you ever come face to face with one."

Andromeda just gazed at Carla. And then the group continued chatting and eating. Next to them, Sheldon, Alexandre and Estelle, who had joined with Io, Ganymede and Miranda, Oberon, Brooke, Titan and Mimas, were chatting and eating together when Aiden and Kira came by and sat on a log, their rather sad-looking eyes gazing on the fruit they had been given by some of the archaeobirds. Around them the archaeobirds continued their activities. Brooke turned to Kira and Aiden and asked, "Something bothering you, you two?"

Kira and Aiden looked up at the female blue-and-gold macaw. "No," replied Kira glumly but Jojo and Blueberry, who had come over to join the red, green and blue-and-gold macaws to talk with them, as well as Brooke's group, could tell that Kira's answer wasn't true based on their sombre looks.

"Something is definitely bothering you," said Titan, "We can tell without a doubt."

Aiden, at this, shot Titan a frown. "Look, there's nothing on our minds, right?" he snapped. Kira nodded in agreement. However, based on the unconvinced looks of the group, Kira and Aiden admitted defeat.

"Alright, then," muttered Aiden as he gazed at the berries in his wings, fiddling with them, "There is something bothering us."

"Is it about Ilosovic and his gang?" asked Mimas with a frown. Kira and Aiden breathed sad sighs at this question. Then Jojo and Blueberry walked over to them and sat beside them.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Blueberry. Kira shook her head.

"We would rather not," she said, "It's just…" she looked up at Jojo and Blueberry and then at the group of red, blue-and-gold and green macaws, "it's just that we are upset at you lot calling that frigatebird and his gang our 'so-called friends'."

"It's almost as if you are saying that they are not our true friends at all," said Aiden with a sad look, "When in fact they have taken us under their wing and cared for us when we lost our families and friends to poachers as chicks."

Aiden then stared at the berries and placed them onto the log beside him. Then Io and Ganymede came over.

"Well, based on how they abandoned you shortly after we had driven away those harpy eagles, it doesn't seem that way," said Io.

"Especially when you both were struggling with scratches on your wing and front," said Ganymede. At this, Kira looked at the scratch on her belly while Aiden gazed at his on his right wing. The scratches, caused by shallow contact with the harpy eagle's claws, had healed over by now but it could have been worse, and the group could see that. Then Alexandre, Estelle, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Mimas, Miranda and Oberon came over, cross looks on their faces.

"You two ought to consider yourselves lucky to have had a narrow escape from those harpy eagles' lethal claws," said Alexandre firmly, "Had those claws sank deeper into your flesh, those scratches would have been seriously life-threatening."

Kira and Aiden shot the male great-green macaw a look.

"Honestly, he's right," said Estelle firmly. She nodded to Aiden, "You could have suffered a broken wing while she," she nodded to Kira, "could have possibly died from massive blood loss."

"Harpy eagle claws are formidable hunting weapons those terrifying birds have, you know," said Sheldon, "They are capable of gutting us with one slash or breaking our necks."

Kira and Aiden gazed at the scarlet/green-winged hybrid and then at their healing injuries. Then Miranda stepped forward.

"Based on what I observed while we were hiding through the canopy when Ilosovic and his gang came to look for us," she said, "You two were missing. They, none of them in fact, didn't even mention anything about you. They also didn't even flash a concerned look about either of you two either and had just left without a second thought about you."

"We could have done the same for we wouldn't have known that you were abandoned until Alessandro spotted you," said Oberon. Aiden and Kira said nothing.

"And had your injuries been even worse," added Estelle, "you would have died and Ilosovic and his gang wouldn't have even had second thoughts about you whatsoever."

Jojo and Blueberry backed this statement up with agreeing nods. Kira and Aiden continued gazing at the macaws in shocked speechlessness. Finally Kira found words.

"Are you meaning to say that they just left us to struggle in that forest during the storm?" asked the horrified Spix macaw.

"Based on my observations, yes," said Miranda. Kira and Aiden, at this, gazed at each other. Why would Ilosovic and his gang do this to them after all they had done for them, such as raising them, teach them how to fly and provided for them? Not to mention a purpose in life which was to cause humans trouble. Then Aiden asked, "Then why did you lot decide to rescue us then when they didn't?"

"Because one," said Blueberry, "You two are a Spix and a glaucous macaw, both of which are extremely rare; two, Ilosovic and his gang had abandoned you without a second thought…"

"And three," added Jojo, "We couldn't leave you two to struggle alone in that forest."

"Ilosovic and his gang, I don't believe, care for and look out for each other," said Miranda, "Whereas us, we do. And as far as causing trouble for humans is concerned, that's not a good life to lead either."

"While it may be true that there are some uncaring humans out there who just treat us like objects," said Oberon, "Not all humans are like that. So the belief that ALL humans are evil is not true."

Kira and Aiden shot Oberon a sour look.

"But a group of those pesky poachers destroyed our families and took everything away from us," snapped Kira, "And based on that, we felt it was good to avenge those wretched two-legged menaces who deserve to be attacked."

"Mind you," added Aiden, "Wouldn't you viciously attack humans because they are so destructive?"

"After all, you went vicious with three of them when they had him, didn't you?" asked Kira with a frown on Oberon.

"No," said Brooke with a shake of her head, "That was to save Oberon, like I've said before, but attacking humans for no reason at all is unreasonable, awful and totally wrong."

"We wouldn't want to attack Tulio, Linda or any of the other humans who have cared for us and our parents at all because we know them to be kind and caring," said Titan.

"Especially if they have worked hard to help preserve and protect animal," said Mimas, "Especially if they are critically endangered and rare species like the glaucous, Spix and Lear's macaws who are so often targeted by poachers for money."

At this, Kira and Aiden frowned. Inside they had begun to, perhaps for the first time in their lives, doubt Ilosovic and his gang. Did they really care for the two macaws?

"You see, you've got to ask yourselves the question of whether they care for you or not," said Miranda firmly, "I believe that Ilosovic and his gang may have deliberately abandoned you because you got injured. Even though they had treated three of their magpie members whom Velocity had attacked…"

"I think they may have abandoned us because it was too stormy," snapped Kira, cutting Miranda off, "Since most birds cannot fly well in rain due to wet feathers hindering flight, especially Ilosovic since he is a frigatebird despite being a seabird."

"Yes," said Aiden in agreement, "Maybe they didn't have time to search us because of that."

"What, even if you were fatally injured by those eagles?" asked Jojo. He then stole a glance at Blueberry, Miranda, Oberon, Brooke, Titan, Mimas, and then at Alexandre, Estelle, Io, Ganymede and Sheldon, who wore surprised looks at Kira and Aiden's answer. Then Alexandre said, "If that ever happened to any of us…"

He then decided to give an example and nodded to Sheldon. "Suppose Sheldon got injured by those harpy eagles," said Alexandre, "and he fell towards earth with, say a nasty scratch. After we had driven off those eagles and had done a headcount to find that Sheldon was missing, we would search for him and when we found him, we would take him to safety and treat his wound. If it were a worse injury, say a broken wing, we would still care for him."

"Unless I say otherwise, especially if the injury is fatal," said Sheldon.

"We're talking about a bad but nonfatal injury, Sheldon," said Alexandre. Sheldon just shrugged as Alexandre turned back to Kira and Aiden.

"But based on Miranda's observation, Ilosovic and his gang never did any of that at all and had just flown away to seek shelter without even acknowledging you," he said. Kira and Aiden were about to make another excuse but Alexandre swept on.

"Even if they didn't notice you to have fallen with an injury at first," he said, "Ilosovic still didn't organise a search party to look for you, hence why we helped you."

Kira and Aiden gazed at Alexandre, his words sinking into their brains. Then Miranda said, "Do you get the point, you two? If Ilosovic and his gang really and truly cared about you, they would have spread out to search for you, even in the rainy weather but they didn't."

"True friends would never do that to each other," said Oberon, "Like how Brooke, Io, Sheldon, Phoebe, Neytiri, Charon and Miranda had come to rescue me when I screeched for help when I was caught by those three poachers.

"So that begs the question," said Alexandre, "Do you think Ilosovic really care about you two, or not?"

Kira and Aiden stared back at Alexandre and the others.

"Well, maybe they didn't hear us," said Aiden but this excuse was refuted as well as the macaws shook their heads.

"None of those gangster birds didn't mention anything about looking for you," said Miranda, "Not even something like, 'Wait, what about Kira and Aiden? Where did they go?'. I did not hear ANY of those birds say anything like that at all."

Miranda then sighed and said, "In fact, I was too busy watching those gangsters while they were looking for us until they gave up the search and flew away to see that you two weren't with them. We were so focussed on losing them due to an important quest."

"If it weren't for Alessandro who spotted you two struggle on the forest floor," said Alexandre, "We would have probably left you as well because we weren't aware that you had been injured."

Kira and Aiden just sighed and said nothing. Then Jojo said, "Let's leave these two in peace to think about what we've said."

Blueberry, Alexandre, Sheldon, Io, Ganymede, Estelle and Titan, Mimas, Brooke, Miranda and Oberon nodded and the group left Kira and Aiden alone to finish eating their lunch. However, their statements had begun to weaken Kira and Aiden's trust in and loyalty to Ilosovic and his gang as they had begun to doubt them, especially as they thought about the events shortly after the skirmish with the two harpy eagles. Furthermore, they had also begun to question their life as causing humans trouble. It seemed that under the happiness they had felt while causing humans trouble with Ilosovic and his gang based on the belief that all were evil and also because of the loss of their families and friends due to poachers, Kira and Aiden felt miserable. They also thought about what Alexandre, Jojo, Blueberry and the others had said about Carla's group caring for and looking out for each other. Didn't any of that exist in Ilosovic and his gang at all? Kira and Aiden sighed as they thought about these things.

 **Hours later**

Sunset had come to mark the end of the day, and Carla and her group had made some new friends with the archaeobird clan. Kira and Aiden had been observing Carla and her group as they made friends with the locals, and were surprised that they were happy. They had also overheard some of the macaws, and Velocity and Milo, talk about how they will need to look out for each other during their trip to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles tomorrow, for a perilous trek awaited them. Kira and Aiden wondered whether they should go on this trip or not, but at the moment, they were not sure for they still felt bothered by whether or not loyalty of Ilosovic and his gang really cared about them or not. However, another side of them kept saying that Ilosovic had simply forgot about them during the chaos caused by the harpy eagles and the storm last night. Maybe Miranda and the others were jumping to conclusions after not seeing the whole story? Kira and Aiden sighed at this and continued going over their doubts about their loyalty to the frigatebird and his gang.

While Carla and company enjoyed their relaxation time with the clan of archaeobirds, at the Great Rocky Wall, movement flashed in the darkening clifftops. A frigatebird with a patch over his left eye, alongside two falcons (one barred-breasted and the other orange-breasted), a fulmar, a red-tailed black cockatoo, a caracara, a horned owl and a barn owl, a black eagle and some corvid birds landed on top of one of the cliffs. The group was puffing and panting from flying against gravity but when they landed on the clifftop, they had flopped down to catch their breath. While the gangster birds breathed and panted, the barn owl, Valack, gazed down into the sea of trees and silvery snakes of rivers. A few fluffs of cloud floated gently over some of the trees and a waterfall was visible on the other side of the cliff. Valack frowned with intrigue.

"Hey, Ilosovic, guys, look," he said, "There's a jungle in this giant ravine."

"Just a minute… Valavk…" puffed Ilosovic, his back against a rock with some magpies spread around him, collapsed on their backs or stomachs panting for breath. Then after the group had got their breath back, Ilosovic, together with Morgana the caracara, Butch the red-tailed black cockatoo, Drax the fulmar, Jafar the orange-breasted falcon, Elektra the barred-breasted falcon, Gaston the black eagle and Drizella the horned owl, and the magpies and ravens, gathered around Valack and followed his gaze into the jungle in the ravine.

"Whoa," breathed Ilosovic in awe.

"A jungle inside a giant ravine?" asked Butch in amazement, "I've never seen anything like this before."

"It sure is strange," said Jafar. Then Elektra, who had amazing eyesight due to being a falcon, caught sighted something gliding over the sea of green trees.

"What is that?" she asked, her eyes fixed on it. The others followed her gaze and found the flying creature. The creature had falcon-shaped wings and a beak but it did not have a feathered tail.

"Looks like some sort of giant bird," said Butch, his eyes squinting due to the darkening air with the sun setting. Then Elektra noticed something very unusual about the flying creature.

"It doesn't have feathers," she said in utter shock, "And its wings are membranous."

Utter shock tore through Ilosovic's group like a shockwave.

"Are you saying it's a…" began Ilosovic, his single green eye wide with flabbergast.

"A pterodactyl," said Butch, finishing his leader's sentence. Then a seriously shocked look crossed his face, his shaggy crest flared.

"A PTERODACTYL!?" blurted the black cockatoo, "B-b-but those flying reptiles are extinct!"

"Yeah, they died out with the dinosaurs," said Jafar. He shot Elektra a look and asked, "How can that thing be a pterodactyl!?"

The magpies and ravens also all squawked with equal shock and surprise. Ilosovic, however, had determination overshadowing the shock. A particular group of birds, feathered birds that is, came into his head which ignited his hatred and anger.

"Never mind about that featherless bird thing," he growled, his black feathers puffed out and single green eye ablaze with revenge and anger, "Let's go find that fat Spix macaw and her group of brats and deal with them for not joining us and abandoning us last night."

And with that, he opened his wings and took off. The other birds also spread their wings and took off after him. The group descended into the ravine and touched down in the jungle. As they did that, some of the gang members felt fear grip them. Some of the magpies, ravens and Drizella, their eyes inflated by fear, began to warily scan the darkening environment, expecting some sort of predator to come out and attack any second. Nearby, Butch, the hulking Gaston and Drax examined some of the plants.

"The vegetation is no different from the jungle outside," murmured Butch sceptically, "How can this be a Jurassic-type forest?"

"Maybe Elektra's sighting of that 'pterodactyl' is just a misidentification," said Drax, doubt replacing the shock at Elektra's sighting of the strange creature a while ago. At this, Elektra shot the fulmar an annoyed look.

"It wasn't a misidentification," she growled, "I definitely saw a pterodactyl. I have excellent eyesight, you know. It did not have feathers, its wings were membranous like a bats…"

"Pterodactyls are extinct, Elektra," snapped Gaston brusquely, "They died out with the dinosaurs. There's no way they could still be alive today!"

Suddenly, Ilosovic's group was startled by a leafy rustling sound. At this, the gangsters froze and stiffened. Drizella drew in a frightened gasp, her feathers bristling while Butch's crest flared.

"I hope that's not a jaguar or something," murmured Drax in a low and wary voice.

"A jaguar, in a Jurassic jungle?" said Elektra.

"Elektra, I told you…" said Gaston when suddenly, the cause of the rustling of the leaves appeared. Gaston jumped in utter shock, releasing a short startled cry but when he saw that it was only a lizard, that is a lizard that crawled on all fours with its legs sprawling to the sides, he breathed a sigh of relief. Ilosovic, Drizella, Drax, Butch, Morgana, Jafar, Valack and the magpies and ravens looked his way.

"It's only a lizard," said Gaston in relief. No sooner than he had finished saying these words when suddenly, a strange furry thing darted out from the same bushes and snapped its jaws into the lizard's body, making Gaston jump back and fall down. Ilosovic rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Honestly, Gaston, despite your macho appearance and attitude," he muttered, "You sure act like an eaglet at times."

Drizella tittered immaturely at this, as did the other birds, much to Gaston's anger.

"Yeah, just like a big baby," crooned Drizella. However, she shut her beak the moment Gaston's piercing stare gazed her way. Then the group examined the mammal that had just jumped out and killed the lizard. It resembled a shrew with a long tail. However, Ilosovic and his gang just shrugged it off as insignificant.

"It's just a rodent," muttered Ilosovic, "Nothing interesting."

"We'd better find a spot to spend the night, anyway," said Jafar as he gazed into the darkening sky through the canopy, "It's getting dark."

"A-a-and it's especially getting creepy around here," murmured Drizella timidly. Suddenly, the gangster group flinched when they heard the cries of an unfamiliar animal sound in the darkening forest. The group, even the tough Gaston, Valack and Butch felt shivers run down their spines and the magpies and ravens shuddered like leaves. The group huddled together, their wary eyes scanning the surroundings.

"Ilosovic," murmured Drizella timidly, "I don't feel safe out here. I wanna seek some shelter."

"Look, Drizella," snapped Ilosovic, "It's only a…"

Suddenly, a startling and unfamiliar animal sound made the frigatebird flinch. His green eye flared wide open as fear tore through him. The cry sounded so close to the group. At this, Ilosovic changed his mind.

"Oh, oh, everyone, find a tree hollow large enough to shelter us, QUICK," he barked. Wing flaps from the gangster group filled the air as they hurried into the air to seek refuge in a tree hollow. After a few frightening minutes, they finally found one and dived into it. Ilosovic was the last to arrive. After he had entered the hollow, Gaston timidly looked out. It was unusual for him to be timid, for he was a very tough and intimidating eagle. As he looked down at the forest floor, he saw some strange reptiles dart by. However, they weren't quadrupedal lizards, but lizards whose body shapes and legs reminded Gaston somewhat of birds but without feathers. A sickle-shaped foot claw on each of the creatures' feet flashed briefly in the light of the setting sun, and their eyes glowed eerily in the dark as they scanned the environment for prey. Feeling chills from the frightening looks of the creatures, Gaston grabbed some leaves nearby and sealed off the hollow while his gang-mates settled down for the night.

"There are some strange lizards running around," murmured Gaston with surprise, "But they appear to walk on two legs. They certainly don't look like any lizard we've come across."

"Lizards that walk on two legs?" repeated Valack. Then Drax twisted his face into a curious look. "That sounds like…"

"Theropod dinosaurs," said Morgana, finishing Drax's sentence.

"You saw some theropod dinosaurs?" asked Elektra in shock.

"But they're extinct as well," said Butch. Gaston, however, didn't reply. Then Ilosovic interrupted.

"Look, enough of this silly living dinosaur and pterodactyl talk," he muttered, "And let's just get some sleep. I'm tired. It's been a long day."

"Yeah, I agree," said Drax.

"You've got that right," said Jafar. And with that, the gangsters, the magpies and the ravens all settled down.

"And as for that fat blue macaw with the green eyes and her group," said Gaston, his piercing eyes on the leaf cover closing off the entrance to the large hollow, "I can't wait to sink my beak and talons into their scrawny skins."

"We'll see to that tomorrow," said Ilosovic as he settled down. With that, Gaston walked over to Butch's side, settled down and began to try and go to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21- Virgil reassures Bia, uncertainty for the stayers' covering for Carla's group begins to manifest**

The sun had set completely by now and back at Andromeda and her clan's giant tree cluster; Meanwhile, Carla and her group were having the last meal of the day. The group of macaws, and Velocity and Milo, sat in a circle when Tiago heard something. At this, he turned round and saw some archaeobirds place some wood into a pile while another struck two stones together. Mini streaks of sparks flew from the two stones each time they made contact. After a few attempts, smoke began to rise from the wood pile and within seconds, dancing glowing shapes emerged from the ignition spot. The archaeobird then backed away while another blew onto the orange glowing things. When Tiago saw the unrecognisable orange flames of fire as they grew bigger, he, together with Carla, Bia, Virgil, Matilda, Justin, Jojo and Lavender, and some of the other macaws and Milo, backed away. As they did that, Spock, Andromeda and Talonclaw came by.

"Problem?" asked Talonclaw. Carla shot the clan patriarch a look.

"Oh, no," she said, "It's just that… we get discontent around fire."

"Really?" said Andromeda, "Why?"

"We have had a very bad history with it," said Io, "Our tribes, clans and groups have faced at least two massive fires in their past."

"One of which tore our mother named Jewel from the Spix macaw tribe along with Virgil, Justin and Matilda's dad, aunt, and grandmother and grandfather," said Bia, shuddering at the memories of the fiery disaster, "and another that almost killed some of us."

"Both of those were believed to have been caused by loggers, or humans who cut down trees," said Justin.

"Oh, I see," said Spock. He then glanced at the growing orange flames from the pile of wood. "Well that pile of wood is carefully constructed so that the fire is contained," he said, "So you don't need to worry about it spreading."

"When the sun sets and it gets cold," said Talonclaw, "We set up a fire to keep warm."

"We also used fire on sticks as a light source when going out on night patrols," said Andromeda, "But we are always careful never to drop them. When we've finished with them, we plunge the fire-sticks into a large puddle to put them out."

Carla, Bia and Tiago then turned round and saw a circle of fairly large rocks surrounding the pile of wood as orange flames consumed them. It appeared that the archaeobird clan used these to contain the fire. However, it was strange. None of the macaw tribes, clans or small groups has ever used fire, and the night-time light sources that were used were firefly-lanterns, used most by the Bluewing hyacinth Clan and the blue-throated macaws. However, use of fire as a light source was too risky and with a bad history involving it several times, the macaw flocks wouldn't want to anyway. It seemed that the archaeobirds had mastered fire at some point in their history and when they had done this, they had learned to keep it under control and stop it from spreading to the point that it became destructive. As soon as Carla and company's nerves about the fire had been calmed, assured that the fire was not going to spread, the group returned to chatting while Talonclaw, Andromeda and Spock moved on to talk with some clan members about the trip to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles tomorrow. Some of those members were going to be escorts for Carla and her group and they were constructing a plan of how to get by the hazards without fatalities.

 **Later**

The partially Jurassic looking jungle and the surrounding Guyanese rainforest were surrounded by the shadow of the night. In the sky, a sea of stars flowed across the sky like silvery glitter, accompanied by the silvery C-shaped sliver of moon that hovered with them and even more stars, the glows of fireflies were dancing around in the rainforest, both in the Jurassic-like rainforest and the Guyanese rainforest around it. In the archaeobird clan's giant tree, the clan and Carla's group had gone to bed except for a few patrollers who had gone out to keep an eye on the surrounding jungle. Carla's group slept in three compartments adjacent to one another, specifically assigned to them by Talonclaw and Otulissa. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Kira and Phoebe slept in one compartment, Io, Ganymede, Alexandre, Estelle, Sheldon, Titan, Mimas, Brooke and Triton slept in another, while Oberon, Miranda, Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri, Alessandro, Azul, Aiden, Velocity and Milo slept in a third. The macaws, falcon and Milo slept in giant leaf hammocks or bed-nests. Some snored, some wittered in their sleep, dreaming about home or the events that lay ahead of them in the morning. The group was to be up early tomorrow morning for they had a perilous trip to face if they are to get to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles. Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others didn't fully understand what the dangers were but based on the seriousness of Talonclaw's voice when he explained everything to them, it seemed that the dangers were very great.

The group would have to stick together with their escorts if they were to avoid becoming prey to those dangerous animals, and the way to the Cave was where most of the giant predatory bat-birds lived and nested. There was barely any cover of trees in that part of the ravine, which meant that flying was unsafe since the predatory bat-birds, would easily spot the brightly coloured macaws and go after them without a second thought, especially if they had a nest of baby bat-birds to tend to. The ground below was also riddled with predatory lizards, snakes and other strange creatures that were supposed to be extinct with their remains only known from the fossil record. It was going to be both an exhilarating and frightening trek at the same time, but Carla and company knew that it will be worth it. They will need a lot of bravery on their part, and plenty of courage. As the macaws, Velocity and Milo slept; one of the Spix macaws opened her eyes. The macaw's head then rose from her hammock and the pair of hazel eyes then travelled around the dark chamber in which the other Spix macaws slept. When Bia saw that all the macaws were asleep, she swung her talons around to the edge of the hammock and got out. She then reached into one of the bags that had been placed in the chamber, ready for tomorrow, and began to quietly search through it. As she did this, a tear welled in her eye. Suddenly, a quick snore escaped Tiago's beak, making Bia snap round but then Tiago's snoring returned to its usual rhythm. Bia then resumed searching through her bag until her wings finally brushed against something that felt like paper. As she felt this, Bia took the drawing book, her drawing book, out of the bag. She then sat on her hammock and began to look through it. As she looked at the drawings she had done of various animals and of her family, including the recently added drawings of the archaeobirds and their tree, Bia's eyes leaked tears and her beak made sniffling sounds. This was out of character, for Bia usually wore a smile when she flicked through the pages and admired her work, but this time it seemed different. As Bia looked through the pages, a female bratty voice echoed in her head, followed by a familiar male voice.

" _I don't see how you could possibly have friends; especially if you're gonna keep on babbling on about some stupid facts that sound nothing more than mere gobbledegook…"_

" _Look, Bia, you are unpopular because of your tendency to yak on and on about things that make no sense. Y-Y-You're not cool like Agumarina is and she said that if I am to join her group, I would have to get rid of you because they don't want nerd bird freaks among_ _them_ …"

These stung Bia like a swarm of bees, and she allowed more silent sobs to escape her throat in the form of short, sharp gasps. Crying, Bia closed her book and walked over to a hole in the room. However, she did not notice that another macaw had opened his eyes. As Bia left the room via the window and hopped onto as branch that protruded from below the window, the macaw, the one that had electric blue feathers and blue-green eyes, lifted his head from his bed-nest. He then turned and saw the shape of Bia recede from the hole in the room and rose out of his bed-nest. Bia continued walking along one of the branches of the enormous tangled tree cluster. The tree was enormous, its height as tall as the General Sherman tree in America. Its enormous branches radiated out from the top, each subdividing and ending in a large cluster of leaves and twigs. Because Carla's group had been placed in three of the chambers near the top, the entire landscape of the enclosed partially Jurassic-like jungle could be overlooked. Bia continued walking along the branch, her drawing book containing her precious scientific drawings clutched in her wings, tears falling from her eyes and sobs escaping her beak, her weeping hazel eyes scanning the land far below the tree until they landed on something glistening in the star and moonlight. Around the tree's base, tiny star like dots of light danced in the dark vegetation and over the patch of reflection of the night sky, which was a pond that was situated next to the giant tree. The archaeobird clan appeared to use this as their water source for it was quite large. Then as soon as she was above the large lake, Bia, tears still falling from her eyes and emitting sobbing gasps, gazed into the water. She then looked at her drawing book one final time and then held it out at wing's length above the water, ready to release it and send it hurtling towards the water below when, "If you think I'm gonna let you drop that precious book of yours into that lake below, you've got another thing coming."

The unexpected speaker made Bia flinch and withdraw her book against herself, hugging it in her wings. Her head darted in the speaker's direction and saw that it was Virgil. Virgil had followed her onto the branch and now was walking towards her, a stern and disapproving look on his face. Bia, seeing the stern look on the macaw's face, at this, snapped a glance at her book and the water and then gazed back at him.

"Um… I-I-I wasn't going to drop it," she said, trying to deny it. However, Virgil's stern expression remained on his face for he could see right through Bia's denials.

"Yes you were," replied Virgil firmly, "I've been watching you head out to the spot above that lake below and hold your book out in front of you, ready to drop it in there."

Bia, at this, flickered her eyes this way and that and tried to think of an excuse to cover up her behaviour but saw that it was useless. Virgil then moved on and began to probe the heart of the problem. However, he already had a hunch about the problem but wanted to confirm it.

"Something is bothering you, Bia, without a doubt," he said firmly. Bia shot him a surprised look.

"What? Um, no, I was just…" she stammered but Virgil hardened his gaze.

"There's no point trying to deny it, Bia," he said sharply, "Something is troubling you. I can feel it. I would like to know what it is."

Bia said nothing but then Virgil began to attempt a more direct tactic in addressing the problem rather than indirectly.

"Is it what that brat Aguamarina said about you back home?" he asked, "As well as what happened between you and Raul?"

"Um… er…" began Bia but Virgil swept on. "Is it about what they said about you being a freak and an outcast because of your gift in science and intelligence?"

Bia flinched at this question as it stung her like an electric shock. Virgil knew he had struck a bullseye. It was definitely something to do with that subject. Finally, Bia gave up all attempts to cover up her problems and began to release her bottled up emotions truthfully.

"I-I-I can't be friends with anyone," she cried in a strangled voice, her eyes spewing more tears, "I-i-it's because I'm too smart. Aguamarina was right all along. I talk about nothing but gobbledegook all the time…"

She then buried her face in one wing and held her book in the other and began to break down, sobbing hard. Virgil, at this, flinched as his heartstrings were tug at the sight of her sobbing.

"Look, that is NOT true," he said, going to comfort her only for Bia to back away, "What Aguamarina said is a pile of jaguar dung," he flinched as he used this strong term for he rarely used language like this, but he knew he had to emphasize his point. "Listen, Bia, just because you have a talent in the sciences doesn't mean you can't have friends," Virgil flopped his wings down and sighed, "But while it's true that you sometimes use technical terms but, that's just your nature. Your father and Ganymede have talents like you do as well."

Virgil then smiled. "In fact, we find your telling of scientific facts very interesting. I certainly do as does Ganymede and some of the others in our circle of friends. Maybe you could become a nature teacher when you grow up…"

Bia looked up at Virgil, her eyes glistening in the moonlight and stars with tears with more falling from them.

"R…Really?" she murmured. Virgil confirmed it with a nod.

"You have a gift in science, Bia," he said in a more soothing voice but then he turned firm, "Just don't listen to what that brat Aguamarina and her clique said about you. They're just vain and arrogant, thinking they're the top kids of the Spix macaw tribe," Virgil breathed an angry sigh, "I sure hope they learn an important lesson back home as they've upset other chicks as well, and it's not just those in our tribe they've picked on…"

It was true. Bia remembered Carla telling her about how Claudia, one of Aguamarina's friends, had almost lashed at Io for hurting her group's pride. Aguamarina and her clique were indeed a bunch of very arrogant macaws, and the parents of some of them were no better, though some of the kids had left that group now after getting into trouble with their parents who saw sense.

"And as far as Raul is concerned," added Virgil, "He's been disciplined as well."

Bia flinched in revulsion at the mentioning of that lad's name. It was clear that she disliked him now which was understandable. Raul had badly hurt her feelings just to join the popular crowd like Aguamarina's clique. Though he was sorry towards Bia now but it was clear that he and Bia would never go out again. It had been such a disappointment. Virgil then turned stern.

"Now that we have addressed the problem," he said firmly, "I would like you to do us, me and your brother and sister in particular, a favour."

"And what's that?" asked Bia timidly.

"I would like you to promise us that you will NEVER, EVER get rid of that drawing book," growled Virgil in a harsh tone of voice, "If you did, you would likely regret it for a very long time."

He then gazed at the book in Bia's wings. "After all, Broccoli had saved that for you when you forgot to collect it when you and your family spent the night in Susan and Lucy's attic in Rio and he wouldn't want you to throw that away, Virgil then folded his wings, "In fact, none of us would want you to do that, anyway. Certainly not your father Blu and mother Jewel, or even my own Mom and Dad (that is, Venus and Zephyr). And I certainly don't want to hear any more silly stuff about you not being able to have any friends based on that bratty macaw's statements. Is that clear?"

Bia nodded until another wave of emotions began to boil within her. When the pressure reached critical, the macaw clutched her book and began to break down again. Virgil felt a wave of sympathy.

"Come here," he said and with that, he pulled Bia into a hug, allowing her to sob into his chest feathers. From the window, three pairs of Spix macaw eyes watched. One was Jojo; another was Tiago and the third, Kira. Bia continued sobbing into Virgil's chest while Virgil rested his head on Bia's crown. Above them, the sea of starry glitter continued to shine, the Milky Way flowing like silica sand across the black canvas while the silvery C-shaped crescent moon hovered overhead. Below, the star-like glow from the fireflies continued dancing about above the lake and grass surrounding the tree base. Kira gazed at Virgil and Bia as they hugged. She was reminded of her mother cuddling here when she was a chick and sighed, wishing she had some friends who would comfort her whenever she was down and upset. Kira couldn't recall any one time Ilosovic and his gang offering her or Aiden comforting hugs whenever they felt upset about things, especially over the loss of their families and friends and breathed a sigh, while Tiago and Jojo looked on at Bia and Virgil sympathetically.

"He certainly knows how to comfort Bia better than Raul," said Tiago, "I'm sure Virgil would make a better friend than him."

"Let's just go back to bed," moaned Jojo. Tiago followed. Kira continued staring at Virgil and Bia, who was comforted by the hug and her crying eased, as they continued their embrace under the stars.

"Aiden and I never had anything of that sort from Ilosovic and his gang from the time they adopted us," murmured the sad Spix macaw and wit that, she retreated to her bed too. It wasn't long until Bia and Virgil also went to bed.

"I couldn't ask for a better friend who understands," murmured Bia in an edgy voice, her precious science drawing book clutched under a wing, "I should have chosen to go out with you instead. At least you know better than to try and fit in with the popular crowd."

"Mom and Dad," replied Virgil, "Dad especially, knew that such crowds are often trouble anyway," he flashed a glance into the dark air and the night sky, "It's getting late, anyway and we're up early in the morning for that perilous trip, so it is important that we are well rested. I'll see you tomorrow."

Bia smiled and with that, she and Virgil climbed through the hole and returned to bed.

 **The Sanctuary de Amazon**

Back in Brazil, the macaw tribes, clans and small groups and other diurnal animals had also gone to bed with the exception of a few patrol groups who went out to perform their night time patrol duties. In the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's territory, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus were sat on the branch close to the hole in Enceladus's tree. The five siblings were restless for they were still worried about Carla's group and had decided to go out and talk. They could not do this near the top for that was where Saturn and Orquidea, their parents, slept and the five did not want them to overhear their sneaky conversations. However, the two brothers and three sisters of Mimas and Titan had other things on their minds as well.

"Had you guys heard about Aguamarina and her clique and some of their parents?" asked Enceladus, "They had exiled themselves from Mr Eduardo's tribe."

"Yes, we did," said Tethys, a disgusted look on her face, "They have moved to the spot not too far away from Mariposa's group's home. I believe it's to escape punishment from Mr Eduardo himself after what happened to Bia."

"Aguamarina's mother, Mrs Mertle, never got on well with Mrs Jewel anyway," said Dione, "And it seems that she just wanted to get away from her rival."

Rhea then sighed and moved onto another subject. "I wonder how our friends who are the only ones of their broods who had chosen to stay behind are doing," she murmured. She especially thought of Charlotte in the Spix macaw tribe. With only her cousin Felix, second cousins Ricardo and Tyler and three close friends Músculo, Garrett and Turquesa present to comfort her while the rest of her siblings were away, and with the grounding punishment still in effect such that visits from the others were few and far between, Charlotte was going through a very difficult time. After all, it had been an extremely difficult decision for her and her brothers Justin and Virgil and sister Matilda. But someone had to stay behind and cover for Carla's group anyway and Charlotte had made the brave decision to be one of the stayers. Rhea flinched at the agony Charlotte, as well as Felix whose brother and sister were also away, were brave enough to put themselves through. It was like sacrificing themselves to save their siblings and friends, and an extremely painful choice as well. The rest of Carla, Bia and Tiago's inner circle friends seemed fine though for they had siblings with them. Phobos and Deimos had each other, as did Europa and Callisto, in the red macaw tribe, though Byron struggled due to him being the only son of his parents. Jasmine and Annette had each other in the Lear's macaw tribe, while Rhea, Enceladus, Dione, Tethys and Iapetus themselves had each other here. Miranda and Oberon's sisters, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania also had each other in the green macaw tribe while Azul's brothers Wilbur and Aurelio and Charon and Blueberry's two younger siblings Flor and Quincy also had each other in the blue-throated macaw clan and glaucous macaw tribe respectively. However, Triton's sister Indigo, their friend Victor, Mariposa the blue-headed macaw and the others who did not have same-brood siblings with them on the other hand, struggled very greatly. 'Being alone with the grounding penalty in place for talking about a myth being real and visits from friends restricted, a very painful choice to make indeed', thought Rhea.

"Well, I sure hope that Carla's group will come back safely with the treasure and save the sanctuary," said Iapetus hopefully. However, there was a hint of worry in his speech. "I hope they do anyway," he murmured, "Before the truth comes out."

"It will HAVE to come out eventually," said Enceladus, his guts churning at the size of the next wave of trouble lay before them and the others who had chosen to remain behind once the real truth was revealed, and Enceladus knew that the fragile wall the stayers had built to keep the real truth of Carla's group's whereabouts from their parents and the others will eventually have to break. But it was not a question of _if_ it will break, but _when_. However, the signs were already beginning to manifest.

"I think it will have to come out sooner than we think," said Tethys worriedly, "Don't you guys remember Dad talking with Mom about Carla and her group's true whereabouts before we went to bed?"

The other four nodded and shuddered. "Yes," said Dione fearfully, "It is obvious that Dad knows something is amiss about Carla and her group's leaving for Rio. He has become suspicious."

"He says that he believes that Carla and her group have not left for Rio for just a break or change of scenery," said Rhea, "For a number of reasons. Firstly, he believes it is unusual for some of us to remain behind, like us five while Titan and Mimas, together with Brooke had left with Carla and the others that had chosen to go. Secondly, the group had left when they should be grounded, and without their parents' permission, and thirdly, Dad may have been watching us and our behaviour and had come to the conclusion that we have something to hide…"

It was true. It was definitely clear that Saturn was suspicious about Carla and the other's whereabouts, and he had begun to believe that Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus, based on their nervous behaviour, were hiding something. Saturn was suspicious that Carla and her group may have left to go to Guyana based on the Navyfeather Clan's Bizarre Birds/Treasure myth as based on how Carla and the others had left when they should be grounded and how the group had split up. because of this, Saturn believed that it didn't make sense that the group would just go to Rio with some staying behind. Based on this, Enceladus and his three sisters and brother's covering for Titan, Mimas and the rest of Carla's group's survival days had become greatly numbered, and they knew it very well. With this worry on their minds, the five blue-and-gold macaw siblings reluctantly sneaked off to bed, being careful not to wake up Saturn and Orquidea who slept in the nest built on a thick root at the top of the hollow, and tried to go to sleep, prepared to face possible confrontation from their father tomorrow.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22- Carla and company's trek to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles begins, the truth is out**

 **Morning**

The sun rose into the sky from the eastern horizon. At Andromeda's clan's tree, Carla and company were awake and were having breakfast. They were ready for their perilous trek to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles and some of them were nervous especially at the risks the group had to face. As Carla, Bia and Tiago ate some fresh insects, nuts, plant matter and berries, Tiago's eyes flickered about as he ate a berry.

"Are you alright, bro?" asked Carla.

"I'm fine," said Tiago, his beak full of berry, "Just nervous."

He then swallowed the berry and released a burp, much to the repulsive annoyance of his sisters.

"You know something," muttered Bia with a roll of her eyes, "At least your manners aren't as bad as that horrid frigatebird and his gang had been."

"Yeah, they were outright pigs," said Carla before she ate a beetle. (Yes, bugs are a part of a macaw's diet as well). As Carla said this, Kira shot the chubby macaw an offended look. At the time when she and Aiden troughed through the fruit supply with Butch and the magpies and ravens Carla and the others had collected for the trip, she had enjoyed being gluttonous. But looking back now, she felt guilty. A sad look on her face, Kira continued eating a stem. Nearby, Jojo, Lavender, Virgil, Matilda and Justin were eating and chatting. Virgil was sometimes gazing at Bia and smiling while he ate a guava.

"You know something, Virgil," said Jojo.

"What's that?" asked Virgil, looking up at the Roberto lookalike with Brisa's features. Jojo brought his voice down and stole a glance at Bia.

"I think you seem to like Bia a lot," said Jojo in a whisper to Virgil's face. Virgil, at this, shook his head in shock.

"You what?" he snapped incredulously.

"It's true," said Lavender, "We can tell from your behaviour."

"You often talked about her before we reunited with Carla's group after being separated from them during that storm," said Matilda with a smile, "You long to hang out with her whenever you get the chance and you sometimes gaze dreamily at her."

"No, no, no," muttered Virgil with a frown, "She's just a friend. I don't like her THAT much."

Justin, Matilda, Jojo and Lavender tittered in response to this.

"There's no point denying it, Virg," said Justin, a childlike smile on his beak, "Your behaviour speaks otherwise."

Virgil just rolled his eyes and sipped some water from a fruit shell.

"I wonder if those two might be on the road to becoming boyfriend and girlfriend when we become teenagers?" asked Matilda to the other three. At this, a spray of water flew out of Virgil's beak and he shot his younger sister an annoyed glare. Matilda, however, smiled innocently and pretended to have said nothing. Virgil shook his head in annoyance. He found his younger sister irritating sometimes. Kira just gave the five macaws a sad look and continued eating her fruit by herself. Next to the Spix macaws, Io, Ganymede, Sheldon, Estelle, Alexandre, Titan, Mimas, Brooke, Oberon and Miranda were also eating some fruit and plant stems, and have tried some insects.

"Have you tried bugs yet, Miranda?" asked Io. Miranda, at this, flinched in revulsion.

"No, I haven't," she said, "Don't like eating the things."

"But they're good for you," said Ganymede, "They're an excellent source of protein."

"I prefer nuts to bugs," muttered Miranda with her face twisted into a repulsed expression, "I've never liked eating insects or any other type of creepy-crawlies all my life and I don't plan to due to their grotesque texture. I don't mind gazing at them such as butterflies, but eating them," Miranda's blue wing slid through the air in a 'no' gesture, "No way."

"Well, our sister Umbriel loves bugs," said Oberon with a teasing smile, "But her favourite insects are flies."

Miranda winced in revulsion as Oberon tittered with some of the others. Brooke also made a face.

"I don't like the idea of eating bugs either," she said, "I think they're gross."

"Well, how else are you going to get your proteins, Brooke?" asked Ganymede with a light-hearted smile, "Mind you, I didn't really like them much either as a chick. When I, Europa, Callisto and Io were young, Mom always said that they would make us big and strong. Since then, I had learned to eat insects and I slowly got used to the texture."

"Mr Blu absolutely hates bugs," said Io, "In fact, he always reacts in revulsion each time Mrs Jewel or Aunt Venus eats one."

"Spiders are his most hasted creepy-crawlies," said Mimas, "In fact he was utterly shocked at how brave Umbriel was when she was near a tarantula."

"Not to mention Tiago and Matilda playing that spider prank on him each time he slept in," said Estelle with a laugh, Sheldon stifling a giggle as well.

"According to Tiago and Matilda," said Sheldon, "Mr Blu always wakes up screaming like a chick."

The group of great green, red and blue-and-gold macaws burst out laughing. Then Estelle turned and saw some archaoebirds prepare some sheets of leaves.

"I say, what are those archaoebirds doing over there?" she asked. The others followed her gaze.

"Aren't they the same leafy cloaks we've seen them sometimes wear?" asked Ganymede, squinting at the hooded robes made from interwoven leaves and vines as two archaeobirds stretched it out. Then Ophiuchus came by.

"Yes," he said, "We will be wearing those cloaks when we venture to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles."

"'We'?" repeated Sheldon in confusion, "Does that include us?"

"As part of our safety procedure during the trip," said Ophiuchus. At this, the macaws exchanged glances.

"But why?" asked Estelle, "Why do we need to wear cloaks made from green leaves and vines?"

"Can't we use mud?" asked Alexandre. At this, Ophiuchus shot the great-green macaw a surprised look.

"Mud?" he repeated.

"Our tribes and clans back home often use mud as camouflage," said Titan, "It's to cover our brightly coloured plumages and hide us from predators and unwanted poachers."

"The Spix macaw tribe used mud a lot," said Mimas. Ophiuchus smiled.

"Well, these leafy cloaks will have the same role," he said, "As camouflage against those predatory animals such as those giant bat-birds. There is a scatter of bushes in that part of the jungle alongside large patches of grass," he walked over to the group of archaeobirds while they continued to sort out the leaf cloaks and picked one up.

"Because most of our habitat is vegetation," continued Ophiuchus, "We use these cloaks to cover our brightly coloured sheeny feathers as they often make us stick out like brightly coloured flowers against a green background."

He then nodded to the macaws and added, "And since you outsider birds are also brightly coloured, especially if your plumage is mostly any other colour than green, you would also stick out like brightly coloured flowers as well, so it's important that your vivid plumages are concealed."

"Can't we use mud?" asked Brooke.

"That's an option," said Ophiuchus, "But it hinders our ability to glide. Furthermore, not much of our habitat is brown, so cloaks made from leaves are better. One it doesn't hinder our ability to glide and two, we don't have to wash it off."

Io, Ganymede, Sheldon, Estelle, Titan, Mimas, Brooke, Oberon and Miranda, at this, exchanged intrigued looks. This method of camouflage was very, very rarely utilised by the macaw tribes and clans back home, if at all. Mud with bits of twigs and leaves had always been the camouflage method utilised by the bird groups for generations. Cloaks made from leaves and vines had never been used as far as they knew. Not too far away, Triton, Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri, Azul, Phoebe, Alessandro, Velocity and Milo were discussing about home while Aiden was by himself, lost in the cloud of thought. This group of macaws had almost finished their breakfast and were talking about home. Velocity was eating a strange rodent and a small bird species, but it wasn't any species of small bird Velocity could recognise. The small birds she, her brother Orion and parents Cometa and Lightning dined on were mostly pigeons and sparrows but this bird species was quite unusual. It must be another species of bird known from the fossil record to have survived extinction as well. Shrugging, Velocity began to eat it. While she ate her breakfast, Milo gazed around.

"You know something, guys," he said, "I wonder if this patch of jungle would be set up as a reserve as well if these thought-to-be-extinct creatures were discovered and their existence confirmed. It would be great if this habitat was protected from the touch of loggers and poachers."

"Almost none of the creatures like the sight of humans to be honest," said Azul, "They're very good at hiding away from them. Even if a group of expeditioners were to set foot here, they'd struggle to find these creatures, and another thing, this place is highly dangerous, especially with the giant predatory bat-birds that prowl around."

"According to Andromeda's parents," said Phoebe, a glance at the female archaeobird as she talked with her mother Otulissa, "They very rarely have any outsiders visiting them. The last group was years ago. As for humans setting foot in this place, that's even rarer."

"True to the legend then," said Triton as he swallowed a berry. The others murmured in agreement. Then Charon and Blueberry saw Alessandro sitting with his chin on his wing, staring into space. He looked worried and concerned.

"Something on your mind, Alessandro?" asked Blueberry.

"Is it the dangerous trek to the Colours and Sparkles Cave?" asked Charon. Alessandro, at this, snapped out of his daydream-like state and looked at the two glaucous macaws.

"Um, no, I was just thinking about our friends back home," said the chestnut-fronted macaw. He ate a nut after saying this. Neytiri breathed a sigh.

"You know something, I've been worrying about my cousin Juan," she said, "And also Victor and Indigo, Triton's friend and sister, respectively, plus the others who have decided to stay behind."

"That's who I was thinking about, Neytiri," said Alessandro. He flashed a glance at Virgil, Matilda and Justin, and also at Lavender and Jojo. "I'm particularly concerned about those five's sister Charlotte and brother Felix," he said, "And also Mariposa, our blue-headed macaw friend. I'm wondering if they, and our other friend-circle members who either have no other same-brood siblings or none at all, are seriously struggling back home."

Charon, Neytiri and Blueberry remained silent, only eating some nuts and fruit, for they did not know how to answer the question. However, Phoebe seemed to understand.

"I'd say yes, very much indeed," she said. Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri, Azul, Triton and Milo looked at her.

"Really?" asked Azul confused.

"Well," said Phoebe, pausing to swallow a nut for she did not like talking with her mouthful, "If you think about it, Charlotte and Felix, for example as noted by Alessandro, are the only ones out of Jojo and Justin's siblings to decide to stay at home and cover for us while the rest of the broods came with us. It must have been extremely difficult for them."

She looked at Triton and Neytiri and added, "Same for Juan and Indigo and Victor."

"But Charlotte and Felix have their friends by their side," said Azul, "Turquesa, Músculo, Garrett, and of course Tyler and Ricardo, Charlotte and her three siblings' second cousins and also the second cousins of Jojo, Lavender and Felix. Also, Juan, Indigo and Victor have each other to help get through this difficult time…"

"Yeah, but we were supposed to be all grounded, remember," said Alessandro, pointing something out, "Which would mean no flying out to meet friends without their parents' permission or going out without their parents by their sides."

At this, realisation came over Azul. "Oh, I see what you mean," he murmured. Velocity, at this, shot the chestnut-fronted macaw a sad look.

"I reckon they must be seriously lonely, having to struggle through the grounding period, alone, while we're away to this place on this Sanctuary-saving trip," she murmured. A feeling of regret then came over the young female falcon as she thought about her mother Coemta, father Lightning and brother Orion back in Rio, and how they would have reacted to her sneaking away after Carla's group. Milo also had the same regretful feeling pricking within him like a bed of thorns at leaving his father Travis, mother Sunset, sister Rosa and brother Eustace behind as well. However, now that the mythical place depicted in the Navyfeather Clan's story was real as the falcon and cockatoo could see, determination to help Carla and the others save the sanctuary, and their homes, from becoming open to logger and poacher intrusions and also putting Tulio and his team's efforts in setting up the sanctuary in the first place to waste continued to burn within them. The treasure deposit was definitely real and there was no turning back now. However, the two were very nervous about the impending trek into hazardous territory up ahead. Soon, Carla's group had all finished their breakfast and Talonclaw had called all of them together and start donning the leaf cloaks and masks. The 25 macaws, Velocity and Milo, their fanny packs donned and the two bags ready to be brought along, all got up and went over to Ophiuchus and several other archaeobirds who had the cloaks prepared. Kira and Aiden followed.

"I hope Ilosovic and his gang don't find this place," Kira whispered to Aiden in a low and nervous voice; concern half for herself and Aiden's safety and that of Carla and her group. Aiden nodded in agreement. Then the two followed Carla, Bia and Tiago and the others as they began to dress in the leafy cloaks, the archaeobird escorts, among them Andromeda, Ophiuchus, Spock and Anakin, and Otulissa, who was a stealth and camouflage tactician and expert who knew how to sneak by predators and through the predatory-animal infested regions of the enclosed jungle, doing the same. The next stage of Carla and company's quest for the treasure to save the Sanctuary had begun.

 **Meanwhile**

Life continued to flow as usual in the Sanctuary de Amazon, the macaw tribes and clans and the smaller bird groups continuing about their daily business. However, the mood was not as cheerful as it usually was. The sky over the entire soon-to-be-former protected reserve was dull and grey, the inhabitants aware of this sad and certain news. In the Spix tribe's ravine, the blue Spix macaws continued flying in and out of the ravine. Jewel set up patrol groups to send out, one to Demetrio and Reynaldo's clans' territory boundary to the flying fox colony's turf as usual to keep an eye on any flying fox activity. This was part of her training for when she took her father Eduardo's place as leader of the tribe with Blu. Mimi was asleep in her hollow, her face smothered in mud and her eyes covered with flowers, chicks and adolescent macaws continued playing, some on the giant lily-pads floating in the ravine pool, laughing and giggling in fun, and Eduardo himself was preparing for an important meeting. There were some outside macaws from one or two of the other tribes present fore they were going to have the meeting with Eduardo. Felipe and his family, his mate Pearl and chicks, Alfonso, Benjamin and Regina, were present with some other red macaws. The three chicks of Felipe and Pearl played with the Spix macaw chicks, Pearl standing nearby and keeping an eye on them. The other red macaws present also were Jupiter and Ruby with Europa and Callisto, Mars and Chiquitita with Phobos, Deimos and Gabrielle, and three other scarlet and green-winged macaws such as Cherie and Tito. Also present were Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Bastian from the blue-and-gold macaw tribe who had decided to come to the Spix tribe's ravine to visit friends.

Bastian had come with Saturn's family to give his parents and older brother a break while Chiquitita had brought Gabrielle along to introduce her to the Spix macaws, among them Zephyr, Venus, Brisa, Roberto, Blu and Jewel, who had been glad to see the new addition to Mars and Chiquitita's family. Zephyr, Venus, Brisa and Roberto, together with Nuvem and Cassia, Maximillian, Blu and several other Spix macaws had gathered with Eduardo, ready for the meeting. While these macaws stood with Eduardo, talking with him, their chicks, Charlotte, Felix, Turquesa, Garrett, Tyler, Ricardo and Músculo hung out with Mariposa, Phobos, Deimos, Europa, Callisto, Enceladus and his four remaining siblings and Bastian, and Regina and her brothers Alfonso and Benjamin. The seven Spix macaws were making the most of this rare opportunity to hang out in the comfort of their friends and relatives for their grounding still in place. Charlotte sat by herself, her back against a small rock and her chartreuse eyes gazing at the ground, sombre and disappointed. She fiddled with a leaf and breathed a sad sigh. As she did that, Bastian came by.

"Hey, Charlotte," asked the young blue-and-gold macaw, his voice laced with sympathy, "How are you doing?"

Charlotte looked at him. "Struggling," she murmured, "It's been over a week since Carla and her group's departure to Guyana now, and that, together with the grounding period, really is beginning to get to me."

Bastian sighed. "I know, I'm struggling as well," he said, his eyes gazing out into the ravine pool and watching some Spix macaw chicks ski on the lily-pads, "My older brother Herman keeps nagging me and making things hard for me because of the Bizarre Birds myth I had explained to them the other night."

Charlotte gazed at him. Unlike her and Felix, and Indigo, Victor and Juan, Bastian had an older sibling named Herman but he had been rather sour towards his younger brother lately, often mocking him and calling him a baby chick for believing in some 'fantasy birdy-creatures and mythical treasure chest'. Furthermore, being grounded didn't help either. Bastian breathed a sigh as he lamented in his mind over this difficult time. A short distance away, Benjamin was hanging out with Felix, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Europa and Callisto. Phobos and Deimos were spending time with Tyler and Ricardo. Benjamin, and his brother Alfonso and sister Regina had grown up quite a lot over the past three years and their inherited features from their parents were now visible. Benjamin looked a lot like Felipe and had his green eyes but they were lighter in colour and his feather ruffle was smaller. Regina looked a lot like Pearl but her eyes were a shade of teal and she had her aunt Ruby's bun-like head feathers which she kept tied in a small ponytail. Her similarity to her aunt mirrored that of Charlotte looking a lot like her aunt Brisa. Alfonso, whose eyes were dark blue, greatly resembled Ganymede but did not have the muscular build, and looked more like his brother than his cousin, much to Callisto and Europa's surprise.

Benjamin, Alfonso and Regina were like cousins to Roberto and Brisa's three chicks, Jojo, Lavender and Felix and also to Zephyr and Venus's four chicks Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, Nuvem and Cassia's chicks Tyler and Ricardo and Blu and Jewel's chicks Carla, Bia and Tiago for Felipe was now a close friend of Roberto and his friends. The three offspring of the red tribe patriarch and matriarch had been told by Callisto, Europa, Phobos and Deimos about Carla and her group's trip to Guyana in search of some treasure to save the sanctuary but the story had not been well received.

"You know something, folks," muttered Benjamin, a frown on his face, "I still cannot believe that you allowed Carla and the others," he glanced at Felix, "Especially your sister and brother, to go on a trip to an unknown and dangerous place. Do you know how vulnerable that group is out there?"

"It's to search for that treasure based on one of the Navyfeather Clan's stories," said Felix. Benjamin emitted a scoffing laugh.

"My Mom and Dad never allowed me, Regina and Alfonso to listen to those ridiculous tales of that hyacinth macaw clan," he muttered, "But to believe that this one called the Bizarre Birds and Treasure to be real is no different from believing that the forest is full of those little human creatures with insect wings you lot told us about," he looked at Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus and Callisto and Europa, "What were they called again? Fairies?"

"Yes," said Enceladus.

"But this story does not feature completely made up creatures like the half-jaguar, half eagle monster slain by a group of heroic macaws," said Tethys, "This one features creatures that reminds us of some strange extinct bird-like creatures and some other animals known only from the fossil record."

"Bat-birds, for example," said Dione, "have a description that closely matches that of a group of flying reptiles called pterosaurs. They had beaks like birds and also flew but they did not have feathers and their wings were membranous, like a bat's."

Benjamin tipped his head one side to the other. "I'm sorry Dione but I don't know what you're talking about," he said, "I've never heard of reptiles that flew like birds."

"We ought to show you a book on fossils," said Rhea, "I'm sure Bia and Ganymede wouldn't mind us borrowing their book on fossils when they get back from their trip."

Iapetus, Callisto, Felix and Europa all nodded in agreement. Suddenly, commotion began to arise within the ravine air as macaws began to chirp and murmur at each other. At this, Benjamin's group exchanged confused glances.

"What's going on?" asked Benjamin. Felix, at this, shot a shocked look at the ravine entrance as blue forms of macaws began to converge towards it.

"There's something flying into our ravine," he said. He squinted at the objects, or group of birds but a cloud of macaws obscured them from view. Then Charlotte, Bastian, Phobos, Deimos, Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo flew in, also having heard the commotion. Then the flock of blue macaws parted and revealed the focal point of the commotion. The moment Charlotte, Phobos, Deimos, Callisto, Europa, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus's eyes landed on that focal point, sharp gasps were drawn in by each of their owners. The forms that were the commotion focal point were four familiar parrot-like creatures, one white with yellow markings and crest, the other light pink with darker salmon pink markings and a striking red and yellow banded crest, and the other two a mix of the first two's traits. Three more were falcons, two slate grey and ivory and the other brown and sandy brown.

"It's Travis, Cometa and their families," said Callisto in shock, "What are they doing here?"

"They must have flown all the way from Rio," said Europa. Then Phobos and Deimos noticed something odd about their familiar falcon and cockatoo friends. Flying alongside Sunset and Travis were only two young half sulfur-crested, half Major Mitchell's cockatoos while Cometa and Lightning were accompanied with only one immature falcon. Where were the other cockatoo and young falcon?

"One of Uncle Travis and Aunt Sunset's chicks is missing," said Phobos.

"As is Mrs Cometa and Mr Lightning's offspring," said Deimos. Enceladus spread his wings, took off and flew towards Travis, Cometa and their families as they asked the surrounding macaws where Eduardo was. Among the cloud of macaws surrounding them were Zephyr and Venus, and also Jewel and Blu, and some splashes of red from Jupiter, Ruby, Mars and Chiquitita and yellow from Saturn and Orquidea as they hovered among the cloud of cerulean and blue. After some difficulty due to the macaws continually obscuring them, Enceladus managed to recognise the two young cockatoos hovering with Travis and Sunset but struggled to identify the young falcon hovering with Cometa and Lightning.

"Rosa and Eustace are the only two young cockatoos present," he told the others, "But I can't see any sign of Milo anywhere."

Dione then flew in and gazed at the young falcon. "And that must be Orion," she said, identifying the young falcon based on his body shape and size, knowing that male peregrine falcons were normally smaller than the females, "Which means that Cometa and Lightning's missing chick is Velocity."

"Milo and Velocity are _missing_!?" blurted out Callisto incredulously.

"Where could they go!?" asked Charlotte. Benjamin, at this, shot Charlotte a confused look.

"'Where could they go'?" he repeated the question confused.

"Maybe those two have been kidnapped or something?" asked Tethys, fearing the worst, "Or they may have wandered off?"

"But that can't be," said Callisto, Europa hovering near her, "Those two and their respective siblings aren't old enough to leave the nests yet."

"Wait, they're going over to Mr Eduardo," said Felix. Turquesa, Músculo, Garrett, Tyler and Ricardo gazed at the falcons and cockatoos.

"Looks like they have something important," said Tyler, a dreadful feeling bubbling within him. Charlotte, Benjamin and the others' eyes also followed the grey, ivory, pink, yellow, brown and white blotches that were Travis, Sunset, Rosa, Eustace, Cometa, Orion and Lightning as they touched down before the Spix tribe patriarch. At this, Charlotte, Felix, Tyler, Ricardo, Turquesa, Garrett, Músculo, and Phobos, Deimos, Callisto, Europa, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus, and Bastian all exchanged glances and shot off toward a big rock nearest to Eduardo's location. Benjamin, at this, looked on confused until he heard his mother Pearl calling him. Stealing one final glance at Charlotte's group, Benjamin flew over to Pearl, Felipe, Regina and Alfonso who waited for him near the ravine pool's edge. Soon, the atmosphere had calmed down as the cloud of hovering macaws had subsided. Cometa, Travis and their families stood before Eduardo who was accompanied by Blu, Jewel, Venus, Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa, and Jupiter, Ruby, Chiquitita (who held Gabrielle), Mars, Orquidea and Saturn. Their faces looked confused, with seriousness tinting in the expressions, as they gazed at the three falcons and four cockatoos. Charlotte and the others with her began to listen from behind the rock as Eduardo began to address the seven odd birds.

"Well, I'm surprised that you seven had expectantly come all this way from Rio to here," he said, "Have you something important to report to us?"

All eyes turned to Travis, Cometa and company as they spoke. From their hiding place, Charlotte and the others gazed at the cockatoos and falcons, shivering at the seriousness plastering their faces.

"Yes," said Travis. He then breathed a sigh. "Look, we're really sorry to barge into your ravine like that and interrupting whatever important task you were carrying out, but the reason why we have come is mega important."

"Really?" asked Venus, Zephyr looking on. Charlotte gazed at her mother and father.

"Is it about Tulio and his team and their continuous struggle with the debt crisis?" asked Blu.

"How are they doing with those debts, anyway?" asked Jupiter with Ruby, Chiquitita and Mars flanking him. Chiquitita left to a quiet place to calm Gabrielle for she had started crying, not wanting her squeaky cries to interrupt this urgent message. Sunset raised a wing and spoke next.

"They are still seriously struggling, Jupiter," she said, Callisto, Europa, Phobos and Deimos gazing worriedly at their parents, "But that's not the reason why we have come here."

"It's something much more urgent," said Cometa in a stern voice. Her eyes then travelled to Blu and Jewel, then to Roberto and Brisa, then Venus and Zephyr, Orquidea and Saturn, and Mars, and then to Jupiter and Ruby. "It is about some chicks who had flown all the way from here to Rio, among them Carla, Bia and Tiago, but you are not gonna like it."

Dread tore through Charlotte's group and they all felt hotness burn their skins. Turquesa, Músculo, Garrett, Tyler and Ricardo's eyes widened, and Felix's eyes also ballooned and his three-layered head feathers spiked out. The eyes of the other birds also widened. Blu and Jewel looked at each other and then back at the falcon.

"Why?" asked Blu confused, "What so urgent about them?"

"Has something happened?" asked Jewel, expecting the worst.

"Are they in serious trouble?" asked Venus, suspicion tinting her voice, making the chicks watching from behind the rock flinch.

"Have any of them been hurt?" asked Mars. Travis, Sunset, Lightning and Cometa shook their heads much to the relief of the macaws while Orion, Rosa and Eustace look on, saying nothing. Around them, the macaws, among them Felipe and his family and the other red macaws that had come with him, such as Tito and Cherie, looked at each other.

"No," said Lightning, but then his face turned serious, "But that might be a different story."

At this, the feeling of dread returned. Then Roberto began to try and settle things.

"B-b-but Carla, Bia and Tiago," he said, "Together with Virgil, Justin, Matilda, Jojo and Lavender, and some of the other chicks from their respective tribes and clans have left for Rio a week ago."

"They wanted a change of scene and a break from here," said Jupiter.

"Yes," said Blu in agreement. Saturn, however, shook his head in disagreement while Orquidea remained quiet. Cometa, Travis, Sunset and Lightning, at this, hardened their gazes but nothing could prepare Blu and the others with him, or Charlotte and her group for that matter, for what came out of their beaks next. Specifically Travis's beak.

"No," said Travis, "Carla and the others with her hadn't just come to Rio. They have left from there to Guyana."

"And I believe that Velocity and Milo, whom you see aren't with us," said Cometa, "May have left with them."

That did it. The moment the brains of Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Brisa, Roberto, Jupiter, Ruby, Mars, Saturn, Orquidea and the others, especially Eduardo, absorbed this report, immense shock and rage exploded within them. Charlotte and the others peered out timidly from behind the large rock. Then some of the parents barked the names of their remaining chicks so loud that their voices went echoing throughout the ravine.

"CHARLOTTE!" bellowed Zephyr, making Charlotte's insides jolt.

"FELIX!" shouted Roberto, his crest spiked out from anger, and Felix almost leaped into the air.

"EUROPA, CALLISTO!" barked Jupiter, making Callisto and Europa flinch harshly. The three macaws gazed in a particular direction. At this, Blu, Jewel, Venus, Ruby, Brisa, Saturn, Orquidea, Mars, Eduardo and some of the other macaws including Chiquitita who had heard everything, and Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Eustace and Rosa as well, turned their heads in Charlotte and company's direction but the chicks had already ducked behind the large rock.

"What are we gonna do now?" asked Felix to Charlotte, his three-layered crest spiked out and on end. Phobos, Deimos, Callisto, Europa, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, and Bastian, Turquesa, Músculo, Garrett, Tyler and Ricardo also shot Charlotte looks that asked the same question.

"Nothing," was all Charlotte could say. She knew very well that she and the others were in a GREAT deal of trouble now for the truth was now out.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23- confrontations and hasty dashes**

 **Later**

The truth of Carla and the others' whereabouts had spread like wildfire, reaching the ears of Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, Neptune, Ultramarine and Flavio, and Victor's parents Bruna and Pedro, and Juan's mother and Neytiri's aunt Augustin in the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaw tribe, Mercury and Sapphire in the Lear's macaw tribe, Uranus and Esmeralda in the green macaw tribe, Ceres and Cobalto in the blue-throated macaw clan, Mariposa's parents Jairo and Skyla, and Alessandro's parents named Murphy (his father) and Abigail (his mother), as well as the parents of the absent offspring such as Sheldon's parents, Ramon the scarlet macaw and Dani the green-winged macaw in the red macaw tribe. When the macaws had heard about the truth, they were outraged and had dragged their kids over to a meeting spot where Eduardo and the others had gathered for a confrontation.

Soon, Charlotte, Felix, Músculo, Turquesa, Garrett, Tyler and Ricardo, Europa, Callisto, Phobos, Deimos and Byron, Jasmine and Annette, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus and Bastian, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Indigo, Victor, and Juan, Quincy, Flor, Wilbur and Aurelio, and Mariposa as well, found themselves perched on a large branch before an audience of angry adults. Among the adults were Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto, Brisa, Nuvem, Cassia, and Maximillian (Turquesa's father), and Jupiter, Ruby, Chiquitita, Mars, Ramon, Dani and Felipe from the red tribe, Mercury, Sapphire, Waldo and Valentino from the Lear's macaw tribe, Saturn, Orquidea and Soleado and Bastian's parents from the blue-and-gold macaw tribe, Uranus, Esmeralda and Alonso from the green macaw tribe, Neptune, Ultramarine, Flavio, Bruna and Pedro from the Navyfeather Clan, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Michelle and Rudi from the glaucous macaw tribe, Cobalto and Ceres and Reynaldo from the blue-throated macaw clan, and Jairo and Skyla the blue-headed macaws and Murphy and Abigail the chestnut-fronted macaws. The tribe and clan matriarchs, and Mimi in the case of the Spix macaw tribe were back in the macaw flocks, taking care of the leadership duties while their mates (and Mimi's brother) were at the confrontation while Chiquitita, Mars, Blu and Jewel had hired babysitters to come and watch over Gabrielle and Blu and Jewel's second clutch of two eggs while they dealt with this problem. Sat in the middle of the group was Eduardo while Cometa, Lightning and Orion, Travis, Sunset, Eustace and Rosa sat on another branch to the right of the adult macaws. The entire audience wore thunderous looks on their faces as they gazed at the ashamed group of mostly nearly-adolescent chicks perched before them. Then Blu opened up the confrontation.

"Alright, kids," he growled, "Why did you lie to us regarding Carla and the others' absence?"

"And this time," said Zephyr, "Answer us honestly."

"Yes," said Ruby. The chicks, at this, exchanged glances while some of them looked very frightened, especially Phobos and Deimos and Juan. They did not like any form of confrontation.

"There's no point in remaining silent, kids," scolded Jewel harshly, "We demand an answer."

"We know you lot are responsible for Carla and company's whereabouts," put in Saturn, Orquidea perched next to him.

"And we demand to know why you lot have lied to us," said Roberto. Still the chicks remained silent. Finally, Charlotte spoke.

"We don't know what to say," she said but she knew that this excuse was futile. The other chicks also knew this as well for the adults before them knew the truth very well now.

"Charlotte," snapped Zephyr, annoyed at his daughter's refusal to answer the question, "Lying to your elders, particularly your parents, is NEVER acceptable."

"But isn't it also never acceptable to break a promise to a sibling or friend?" asked Enceladus. Saturn, at this, rolled his eyes.

"Look, Enceladus," he said, "This is a serious matter we're dealing with here, so it's important to tell the truth."

"That's right," said Orquidea, "Honestly, kids, you have NO idea what danger Carla and the others could be in while over in Guyana."

Saturn then began to give a scenario so he nodded to Uranus and Esmeralda for permission to use as an example and they nodded. Soleado and Alonso looked on.

"Look, let's have an example," said Saturn, gesturing to the pair of great green macaws that were Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and also Miranda and Oberon's parents. "Suppose I allow Esmeralda and Uranus here to go to an unknown place and promise that I'd cover for them by telling a lie or a half-truth of where they are? Now if these two ever ended up in danger of, say poachers or a predator, how will we know of their situation?"

"Especially if we're far from help or a familiar place," said Uranus. Esmeralda then glanced at Blu, Jewel and the other Spix macaws, then at Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Rudi and Michelle and finally at Mercury, Sapphire, Waldo and Valentino.

"And especially if you're part of a species of macaw that is extremely rare and critically endangered," she added, shuddering with dread. At this, Charlotte, Felix, Tyler, Ricardo, Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett, and Jasmine, Annette, Quincy, Flor and Juan shot the macaws gazes as they nodded in agreement to Esmeralda's statement.

"That's absolutely true," said Valentino, "Rare birds such as us Lear's macaws," he gestured to Sapphire, Waldo, Mercury and himself, "the Spix macaws and the glaucous macaws, are serious targets for poachers to snatch. Now I don't know how the human trade system works but I should imagine we'd be big (what humans call) money."

He nodded to Mercury and Sapphire and added, "These two and the others who have lived with humans should be familiar with human trading."

"That's right," said Mercury, "So I'll explain. You see, kids, we Lear's, Spix and glaucous macaws are the rare diamonds of the macaw species. That is why we are so vulnerable to poachers outside a nature reserve because we are sought after for our rarity."

"That is why we worry for Carla and the others," said Jupiter. He shot Blu and Jewel a dreaded look. "Especially your entire first brood of two daughters and son, three of Zephyr and Venus's chicks, two of Roberto and Brisa's brood of three, Mercury and Sapphire's oldest daughter, Michelle's niece and half of Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's brood."

The said macaws gazed back at the muscular scarlet macaw with dreaded looks on their faces, especially Michelle. Her niece Neytiri was a highly inquisitive macaw and her curiosity often led her into danger. Pluto and Lapis Lazuli also shuddered, remembering what had almost happened to Flor during their and Neptune's family's trip to Rio last year.

"Kids," said Pluto, "How would we feel if any of those young macaws, and Milo and Velocity," he stole a glance at the falcons and cockatoos, "got hurt or caught by poachers?"

"Especially the latter," put in Roberto. He shuddered at his memories of himself getting whisked away by those humans and felt sick at the very thought of Jojo and Lavender being shoved into a cage and then taken to an animal trade to be sold as pets or mere objects. Brisa also shuddered. Then Felix breathed a sigh and decided to tell the adults the reason.

"We allowed them to go to Guyana because they wanted to find the legendary treasure deposit," he said. The other chicks nodded in agreement. At this, some of the macaws, such as Felipe, Alonso, Valentino, Reynaldo and Rudi exchanged confused glances.

"Legendary treasure deposit?" repeated Reynaldo. At this, Flavio began to explain.

"It's one of our stories of our clan the Navyfeathers," he said, "It's called the Legend of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure. According to the story, either millennia and millennia or a few thousand years ago, depending on the version, birds that had features that no other bird had, such as legs resembling wings and a long, prehensile tail, lived alongside giant lizards, bat-birds and other strange creatures."

"In one version, a comet smashed into the earth and killed the majority of life but some of them, including some of the bizarre birds," said Ultramarine, "Survived. When humans appeared and started hunting animals, those creatures moved to isolated places where they thrived, whereas in the other version, a watery disaster involving a flood that covered the entire earth occurred, killing all life including humans save for the those and a few humans on a giant boat. On the boat were various types of the giant lizards, or juvenile versions of them, the bizarre birds, bat-birds and the rest," (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, and Travis and Sunset, all thought of Noah's Ark when they heard this). "Then hundreds of years after the flood had ended and the survivors had left the boat to repopulate the earth, humans started hunting animals for food, clothing and money and drove many of them to extinction, but some bizarre birds, bat-birds and some other strange creatures moved into isolated places, away from humans, where they thrived. One such place is believed to be an enclosed patch of jungle surrounded by a giant rocky cliff in Guyana and there, it is believed that a large natural treasure deposit existed."

"What utter nonsense," snapped Felipe scornfully, "That stuff's for chicks who are silly enough to fill their heads with. It's a good job Pearl and I have prevented our two sons Benjamin and Alfonso and daughter Regina from listening to those fairy tales of yours."

"Yeah, they're just mere entertainment," added Soleado.

"Nothing but to get chicks excited," put in Alonso.

"And imagining all kinds of silly things," said Reynaldo, "Especially that silly story about that half-jaguar, half-eagle beast terrorising a neighbourhood and how some group of heroic macaws slayed it and saved the inhabitants."

"Yeah, it's all a load of rubbish," added Rudi. Jairo, Skyla, Murphy and Abigail nodded in agreement.

"I couldn't agree more," said Eduardo. Then Zephyr brought the group back to the main issue.

"But why did you kids lie to us and allow Carla and the others to go to Guyana to find some mythical place?" he asked. Callisto stepped forward and said without hesitation, "It's because we felt that you would forbid us from going to Guyana after you had negatively reacted to it when we explained it to you including how it could be a solution to the debt crisis threatening our homes."

Europa then gazed up at Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Rosa, Cometa, Lightning and Orion and added, "And it seems that Velocity and Milo had wanted to help as well."

The seven did not reply for they were speechless. Then Europa turned back to the adult macaws as Indigo then began to explain why Carla and the others had left.

"They thought that it was worth a try," she said, "It was a last resort since our human friends are greatly struggling with the debt crisis."

The adult macaws exchanged disbelieving glances. Then Blu shot Cometa, Travis and the other five a glare, the others following.

"Did Veggie, Dash, Ginger, Collette and Broccoli get involved with all of this?" Blu demanded. Charlotte and the others gazed at the three falcons and four cockatoos.

"Yes they did," said Travis, "In fact, Broccoli and Collette went with Carla and the others to get the supplies and allowed them to board a plane to Guyana."

"They've WHAT!?" bellowed Jupiter incredulously.

"How could they help Carla and the others get themselves further into this mess!?" added Venus. Charlotte, Phobos, Deimos, Europa, Callisto, Jasmine, Annette, Aurelio, Wilbur, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Indigo, Quincy and Flor flinched harshly at the harsh tone of Venus's voice.

"Don't tell me those two cats are gonna be in trouble as well," whispered Aurelio in a low voice. The others just shot him a silent and dreaded glare. Then Neptune frowned.

"Well if that is true, then those two cats are gonna be facing a serious furore," he growled, making the chicks flinch again.

"I don't like the way he said that," murmured Tethys.

"I sure hope Carla and the others find the treasure and get back soon," added Dione. Some of the adult macaws, however, looked hopeful.

"I think it was very brave of Carla and the others to go to Guyana actually," said Mars. He shot the chicks a glare. "It's true that these kids were wrong to lie to us but… maybe Carla's group's leaving was a good thing."

"Yeah, absolutely," said Cobalto in agreement.

"WHAT!?" snapped Blu, "Don't you realise what danger those lot could be in!?"

"Especially our Carla, Bia and Tiago," added Jewel.

"Not to mention our only son Alessandro," added Murphy and Abigail together.

"Outside the Sanctuary de Amazon and the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Cometa from the above branch, "You are more vulnerable to the likes of poachers and loggers, like how Mercury and his tribe leader explained."

"That's absolutely right," growled Blu, wincing at the thought of his two daughters and son getting caught by poachers. Venus and Zephyr also shuddered. One of their daughters and both their sons were missing and Venus remembered how she and Mercury were torn from their home by poachers. Blu glared at Cobalto and Mars. "Seriously, you two, you don't know how dangerous it is out there, in a strange country."

"Especially if you're on some pointless quest to find something that doesn't exist," put in Maximillian who had been quiet all this time. Then Brisa stepped in.

"Well, I think it's time we did something about it," she said firmly. This was met by confused looks.

"What?" asked Nuvem.

"How?" said Cassia. Zephyr shot his and Brisa's cousin and cousin-in-law a look.

"We're gonna go after those kids and bring them back here," he growled.

"And some of those lot will be coming with us as well," put in Roberto, his angry gaze on the chicks. Charlotte flinched as did Felix and the others.

Soon, Blu and Jewel prepared to leave the Sanctuary de Amazon on a quest to retrieve Carla, Bia and Tiago from Guyana. Going with them were Mercury, Sapphire, Jasmine and Annette, Venus, Zephyr and Charlotte, Roberto, Brisa and Felix, Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos, Jupiter, Ruby, Callisto and Europa, Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus, Uranus, Esmeralda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania, Neptune, Ultramarine and Indigo with Bruna, Pedro and Victor, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Quincy and Flor with Michelle and Juan for the former wanted to retrieve Neytiri, Ceres, Cobalto, Aurelio and Wilbur, and Travis, Sunset, Rosa, Eustace, and Cometa, Orion and Lightning as well. Murphy and Abigail also decided to come for they wanted to retrieve their son Alessandro. As the group of over fifty birds prepared for their trip to Guyana, Eduardo hugged Blu and Jewel.

"Now you lot be careful out there," he told them firmly, "The last thing I want is any of you getting hurt or killed," he gazed at Jewel, "Especially you Jewel."

"Don't worry, Daddy," said Jewel in a determined voice tone, "We'll be careful."

Jewel then looked at Nuvem and Cassia and said, "Can you let Gael and Viento know about us leaving please? I want to make sure that our two eggs are looked after while we're away."

"Don't worry, we will," said Nuvem. Felipe then walked in.

"I'll look after Gabrielle as well," he said to Mars and Chiquitita.

"Thanks," said Mars, "It's much appreciated."

"We don't know how long we will be," said Chiquitita, "But I should imagine it would be about a week. Maybe longer."

"Huh, they could be anywhere in that country," said Mercury in discouragement.

"How are we gonna find 25 young macaws, a falcon and a cockatoo in a country as big as Guyana?" murmured Sapphire with dread. While Blu's group prepared themselves, Blu jotting down the things the group will need for the journey, such as fanny packs to carry supplies (his old one was worn out and past its use) on a notepad with a pen he had brought into the Amazon, Turquesa, Garrett, Músculo, Byron, Mariposa, Bastian, Tyler and Ricardo stood by with their parents, among them Maximillian who stood with Turquesa. Charlotte and Felix shot the group an ashamed look.

"I hope you lot have a safe journey," murmured Byron.

"Remember to stick with the grownups," said Ricardo as he flashed a glance at Nuvem and Cassia, who nodded with stern looks on their faces to tell them that this was the right thing to say. With that he hugged Charlotte and Felix. Tyler joined the hug.

"We will, folks," said Charlotte as she; Felix and the two second cousins broke their hug. Byron went over to Phobos, Deimos, Callisto and Europa and hugged them while Bastian said goodbye to Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus. While Blu's group continued to prepare themselves, Demetrio and Violeta had flown over, having heard about Carla and her group's whereabouts.

"Do you lot know where you are going, Blu?" asked Demetrio. Blu looked at him.

"We're gonna get a map from Manaus," he said, "But if my calculations are correct, Guyana does border Brazil directly."

"It does," said Violeta, "If you go directly north from Manaus and keep going in that direction, you should come to the Brazil/Guyana border."

The Bluewing Clan matriarch then brushed her head feathers with a violet-tinted navy blue wing.

"I can't believe that Carla and the others would go to such a dangerous place," she murmured, "I'd dread to think what dangers they'd be facing now."

"Well, hopefully we'll find all 27 of those birds, including our missing son Milo and Cometa and Lightning's missing daughter Velocity all in one piece and bring them back here safely," said Travis as he looked at Rosa, Eustace and Sunset. Cometa, Lightning and Orion also nodded in agreement. Eduardo and Felipe then stepped in and informed Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto of what the other patriarchs who had left after the confrontation had finished, said about dangers before issuing warnings about them themselves.

"Remember to keep together at all times," said Felipe, "Avoid any human places on the way and if it is stormy or night, look for a safe place."

"We will, Felipe," said Jupiter, "Thanks for the advice."

"Also," said Eduardo, "Look after each other."

The macaws nodded and as soon as they were ready, Blu prepared to lead the group to Manaus's direction.

"At least you don't need one of them human devices anymore," said Eduardo with a slightly amused smile, "I actually find it funny that you used one to find here."

"Oh, it was a nightmare, honestly," muttered Jewel, "But at least he's gone off using them now."

"I still like to use the odd human electronics every now and then," said Blu.

"You mean like mobile phones and laptops?" asked Jupiter slightly sarcastically, "Oh, yeah."

Felipe then hugged Roberto and Brisa.

"I hope you both have a safe journey too," he said, before shooting Felix a stink eye, "And I think this son of yours could do with learning a very important lesson from the talk that we've had, especially for lying."

Felix flinched at the harshness of Felipe's voice and also at Roberto and Brisa's glare.

"Don't worry, we'll think of a punishment, but not now," said Roberto. Felix then gazed at his dad.

"Dad," he murmured sadly.

"Yes, son?" snapped Roberto.

"Are we in trouble?" murmured Felix. Roberto firmly put a wing onto his shoulder.

"Not just 'trouble' by itself, Felix," he growled, "You're in DEEP, DEEP, trouble."

"Absolutely," put in Brisa. Felix made an ashamed face and prepared for the flight. The other chicks also wore ashamed looks, especially Charlotte as she prepared to fly alongside Venus and Zephyr. Then after their saying their final farewells to the group including Eduardo, the macaws, cockatoos and falcons left, bound for Manaus.

 **Meanwhile**

Carla and her group, their bodies covered with the robes made from leaves and vines and their faces concealed by masks made from leaves similar to the archaeobirds' masks and cloaks, as well as their fanny packs tightly worn around their waist and the two bags with them, followed the group of archaeobirds, among them Otulissa, Andromeda, Spock, Anakin and Ophiuchus, through a patch of trees. With the group were more archaeobirds but they looked quite different from the four-winged archaeobirds. They had a long, prehensile tail like the four-winged creatures with frond-like tail feathers but their legs lacked the flight feathers. These features reminded some of the macaws, especially Bia and Ganymede, of _Archaeopteryx,_ a feathered creature known from the fossil record with similar features. Otulissa had led the group to a clan of the two-winged archaeobirds who lived in a concealed grove, unlike Otulissa's clan who lived in a giant tree cluster with twisting trunks, and the leader of the clan was named Featherstorm who knew about the obstacles between his clan's grove's home and the entrance to the Cave if Colours and Sparkles, and he was friends with Talonclaw and his clan. After Otulissa had explained everything to him and why Carla and her group were here, Featherstorm and several other members of his clan had opted to go along. Thus, Carla and company had more escorts.

The mixed group of birds stood on the edge of a patch of forest, some of the archaeobirds holding torches though it was light, looking out into a meadow-like patch. However, this patch was mostly bare; with sand-brown rock and barely a few plants growing in places. A few spots of grass and bushes were sprinkled over the bare desert-like surface, the sun's rays beaming down on it and heating it. It was like a desert in miniature. The open space looked tranquil and inviting to play games but, as Otulissa, Featherstorm and the other archaeobirds knew, this place harboured a deadly danger. While Featherstone, his body and face covered by a cloak and mask of leaves and vines, gazed out into the desert-like spot, Otulissa turned to Carla and her group.

"This patch is what we call the Fan-Backed Lizard Field," she said, "It is because a group of fan-backed lizards inhabit this part of our habitat."

"There are no trees at all, or even tall grass," said Tiago, his body also covered with a cloak and mask of leaves and vines, gazing at the spacious field.

"Except for a few flecks of short grass and bushes," said Io.

"That is what makes it so dangerous," said Andromeda, "There is no cover of trees or tall plants to cover us from any predatory animals that live here but the fan-backed lizards aren't the only danger here…"

The macaws, Velocity and Milo gazed back at her confused.

"What else is dangerous in that spot?" asked Bia.

"Those giant predatory bat-birds," said Otulissa in a low voice, "Out here, we are an easy target for those predators to catch and take away," she then nodded to the cloaks the macaws, Velocity and Milo wore and added, "That is why we have to wear these camouflage cloaks and masks. It covers our brightly coloured plumages and allows us to hide among any green vegetation."

Some of the macaws, among them Kira and Aiden, were scratching themselves.

"They aren't comfortable to wear though," muttered Kira.

"I'm afraid it's the only thing we have," said Anakin, "We can't risk any of you lot getting spotted easily by those bat-birds or other predators that roam here."

"We have our torches," said one of the two-winged archaeobirds, "For those fan-backed lizards and bat-birds loathe fire, but it's up to you to make the dash for it."

"Our last group of outsiders who visited us years ago," said Featherstorm who was also armed with a torch, "when we escorted them to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles through this field, one of them foolishly stopped and took off his cloak half-way through this patch, and of course, a bat-bird spotted him and he was snatched away. We had been unable to rescue him for that creature was so quick and he was never seen again. The rest of the group, however, continued and then left with some of the Colour and Sparkle material from the Cave but that one fatality terrified them."

This sent shivers down Carla and her group's spines as Ophiuchus said, "That is why we must be quick to rush for the bushes and to the patch of forest on the other side. Even in our green leaf cloaks, we are still easily spotted by bat-birds and those fan-backed lizards until we reach the safety of the few bushes scattered throughout the Field."

Carla and her group gazed back at him. It was obvious that other outsiders had managed to find this place and had harvested some of the treasure deposit but it frightened them to think of the previous group who had lost one on the way and the sight of the seemingly tranquil field made their nerves dance all the more. However their determination to save the sanctuary prompted them to take the risk.

"Right, are we ready?" asked Otulissa. Carla, Bia and Tiago nodded, determined looks on their faces and despite their nerves shaking. Justin, Matilda and Virgil, their wings holding Carla, Bia and Tiago's also nodded, as did Jojo and Lavender, Io, Ganymede, Sheldon, Estelle and Alexandre, and Titan, Mimas and Brooke, Miranda, Oberon, Triton, Charon, Blueberry, Azul and Phoebe. Phoebe then looked back at Velocity, Milo and Neytiri, Kira and Aiden and Alessandro who were incredibly nervous indeed.

"Ready, you six?" asked Phoebe. Milo, Velocity, Kira, Aiden and Alessandro all nodded but Neytiri, her eyes gazing into the desert-like patch and imagining a predatory lizard or featherless bird swooping in, immediately freaked out and tried to retreat. However, Estelle took off after her, shouting, "Wait, Neytiri!"

Neytiri continued rushing until a red, blue and green form dressed in a green cloak and mask of leaves appeared before her and blocked her path.

"I will NOT have any of us backing down on this most important part of the trip," she scolded, making the young female glaucous macaw gaze at her. Estelle continued.

"We did not come all the way here only to cowardly retreat from the obstacles," Estelle gently tapped her on the head to get Neytiri to look at her when she bowed her head. "Look, listen up. We have a sanctuary to save and we're gonna need every wing here in this operation to rescue it from the debt crisis threatening to remove its protected status." Neytiri gazed at her as Estelle added, "Think of your aunt and cousin and also your tribe and friends back home. Think of OUR families, friends, bird tribes and clans as well and what horrible future they have based on this. If we help to save the sanctuary and avert that threat, then we'll be hailed as heroes."

Neytiri felt the encouragement melt away her fears and prepared to turn round and follow the others.

"That's the spirit, Neytiri," said Estelle, "Let's work together in this important task," she then turned serious, "But we MUST obey our escorts."

Neytiri nodded and returned to Charon and Blueberry's side, ready to go with the others.

"Sorry about that," said Estelle. Otulissa smiled and nodded to Featherstorm as he prepared for the next step.

"Right, we will go out in small groups," he said, "So how many is there of you?"

"Twenty-nine," said Carla. Kira and Aiden, still scratching themselves with the cloak of leaves causing them itches, looked at her.

"Right, we'll split into groups of at most six birds," said Featherstorm, "I'll be the one to take the first group to that bush."

He then stepped forward and asked, "Who would like to go first? I want the first six to come forward."

At first, Carla's group hesitated but then Carla stepped forward.

"I will," she said. Then Bia and Tiago stepped forward, followed by Virgil, Justin and Matilda. Io went to step forward but Ganymede stopped her.

"Six max, sis," he said. Io, at this, returned to her brother's side. As soon as the six Spix macaws stood before Featherstorm as he held the burning torch, Featherstorm said, "So you six going first?"

Carla, Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Justin and Matilda all nodded.

"Yes," said Carla.

"Right, then let's go," said Featherstone as he turned to face the opening in the forest to the desert-like patch. "We're gonna head to that bush over there," he indicated with a point to a bundle of green leaves in the distance, "It's just large enough to hide up to ten archaeobirds, and from there, we're gonna run to the next bush but we'll get to that later. But you must be quick on each run for there are bat-birds on the prowl and they do hunt very often in this area. Do you six understand?"

Carla and the other five, their hearts beating in their chests with nervousness and trepidation, nodded. Then Carla turned back to the others and said, "Remember, folks, birds of red, blue, green, yellow, grey, turquoise, navy blue and grey feathers, or feathers of any colour…"

"Have to stick together," said the others, finishing the sentence. Aiden and Kira looked around, amazed at this saying.

"Wow, I like that line," said Andromeda, "How did you come up with that?"

"Our dad made it up," said Carla.

"It's a good way to remind us to tick together," said Justin.

"Interesting," said Andromeda. Then Justin and Carla turned to face Featherstorm.

"Right, ready?" said Featherstorm as another two-winged archaeobird joined his side. She was going to make sure that all six Spix macaws got to the bush safely. Carla and her two siblings and three friends nodded.

"Yes," they all said together.

"Then let's go," said Featherstone, "And make sure you head straight for that bush, after me on our signal."

He then nodded to the female archaeobird who then peered out of the forest to look for any bat-birds in the sky or any ground predators. As soon as she had seen that the coast was clear, she nodded to Featherstone.

"Okay, here we go," he said, "Remember to make it quick. I don't want any of us stopping half-way."

And with that, he let loose a squawk and with that, eight green blurs darted out from the forest and rushed straight for the bush. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Virgil and Matilda all held wings as they rushed along, after Featherstone with the female archaeobird behind them. The others in the forest watched on as the group of eight made a quick beeline for the bush. On the way, the flames flowed behind the sticks held by Featherstone and his assistant, and their eyes darted this way and that, watching for any predators or bat-birds. Then within seconds, all eight made it to the bush where they dived and hid. Then the six Spix macaws could relax for a bit and they all began to pant.

"That was nerve-wracking," said Virgil as he rested against a rock under the bush.

"We don't want to risk any of you getting caught by those predators, friend," said Featherstorm. Bia, Carla, Tiago, Matilda and Justin looked at him as Featherstorm's assistant waved her torch to the others back in the forest to signal to them that they had made it. Back in the forest, Ophiuchus smiled.

"So far so good," he said. He then turned to Andromeda and said, "Okay, sis, I'm gonna prepare the next group."

And with that, he went over to the group of macaws, Velocity and Milo while Andromeda smiled.

"So that's how you guys are going to get past this obstacle," explained Otulissa, "It is vitally important that you do."

The others nodded but Kira and Aiden wore uncertain expressions.

"What do the fan-backed lizards look like?" asked Kira. Back with Carla's subgroup, Featherstorm's assistant then peered out and located the next bush.

"Right, are you six ready to make the next dash?" asked Featherstorm.

"We are," said Bia whose body was still wobbly with nerves. This was indeed a perilous trek. Virgil was about to say something when suddenly, the air shook with the sounds of a growl. At this, the six Spix macaws and two two-winged archaeobirds flinched and then looked around. Then Featherstorm's eyes landed on the source of the growls. When they did, he flinched in horror.

"What is it?" asked Matilda but then her eyes landed on the same source. When they did, she drew in a sharp gasp. Bia, Carla, Tiago, Virgil and Justin also flinched in terror. A good distance away from the group's hiding place, a large reptilian creature was prowling around but it was not alone. Several other creatures like it were prowling around as well, and frightening growls continued to emanate from their mouths.

The creatures resembled hideous quadruped or four footed lizards, their heads armed with a pair of jaws full of razor sharp teeth and a thrashing tail at the other end. Their legs were like thick roots sprawling from their bodies and ending in clawed toes. But what was most magnificent and terrifying of all was the enormous fins atop their backs. These fins appeared to be supported by bony rods which were shorter nearer to the head and tail. Towards the middle of the fin taller rods were present, giving the fins a hump-shape with a slightly jagged edge. The creatures' skins were greenish or brownish and their eyes were bright yellow, piercing, cruel, full of hunger. The six Spix macaws instantly recognised the creatures but it was Bia who identified their species.

"A group of _Dimetrodon_ ," she blurted out in utter terror and shock.

"A what?" asked Featherstorm confused.

"They're strange sail-backed reptiles whose skeletal remains are found in a lower rock stratum than the dinosaurs," explained Virgil.

"Dinosaurs?" asked Featherstorm's assistant.

"Huge reptiles," said Tiago, "They're um… some had had large bodies, long necks and tails, and thick legs…"

"While some had large frills and horns and bulky bodies," said Matilda, "Some with spikes or clubs on the end of their tails and plates along their backs…

"Those descriptions sound like that of…" said Featherstorm.

"Giant lizards," said his assistant, finishing his sentence. Then surprise struck her.

"You know about those creatures?" she asked.

"Those animals are believed to have gone extinct millions of years ago," said Bia.

"Or a few thousand years ago," said Virgil. Featherstorm and his assistant, however, stood there, perplexed. Seeing this, Bia said, "I-i-it's complicated but that's not important."

Featherstorm and his assistant emitted a small, "Oh, from their beaks and prepared for the next dash. The six Spix macaws then gazed at the fan-backed lizards, identified as _Dimetrodon_ by Bia, as they continued lumbering around, their piercing eyes scouring the environment for any signs of prey and their throats producing the frightening growls. From the forest edge, Andromeda, Otulissa, Anakin, Spock and Ophiuchus, the latter of who had Jojo, Lavender, Io, Ganymede, Kira and Triton prepared to make the dash, gazed at the fan-backed lizards in terror with the other archaoebirds with them.

"We'd better make sure that those creatures don't see us," murmured Ophiuchus warily.

"Are they carnivores?" asked Ganymede timidly.

"What's a carnivore?" asked Kira.

"An animal that kills and eats other animals," said Io.

"In other words a meat-eater," said Lavender.

"That's exactly what those fan-backed lizards are," said Ophiuchus as he held his torch, poised to make the run, "They eat flesh, and that of any outsider is a tasty treat to them like how it is to the predatory bat-birds."

This turned the bloods of Io, Ganymede, Jojo, Lavender, Kira and Triton to ice. Fear made their eyes inflate and their feathers rise and if Jojo was not wearing the leafy hood and mask, his head feathers would have spiked out. The group shuddered as they gazed at the sail-backed monsters as they continued lumbering around. The way they prowled around reminded five of them of jaguars but it was likely that these reptiles were far more dangerous than the apex forest floor predator. Then Jojo shot Ophiuchus's torch a look.

"Do they like fire?" he asked.

"No, thankfully," said Ophiuchus, "But if they decide to chase us, then we will wield these torches to drive them away."

Then Anakin came in, his torch also lit.

"I'm gonna come with you," he said, "To make sure that this second group is safe."

"Okay, be careful, bro," said Ophiuchus. Just then, Featherstorm's group had left the first bush and had rushed for the second.

"Okay, are we ready?" said Ophiuchus. Io, Ganymede, Jojo, Lavender, Triton and Kira, their nerves dancing more violently with every passing second, nodded. Ophiuchus then checked on the fan-backed lizards once again. When he saw that their backs were turned, he said, "NOW!"

Then without hesitation, the eight dashed out of the forest, making a beeline for the bush. Their feet pumped like pistons and their hearts raced fifteen to the dozen. Triton clung onto Jojo while Anakin, who ran behind, stole glances at the fan-backed lizards as they continued prowling around several metres away. However, halfway, something happened. As Ganymede, Io, Triton, Jojo and Lavender followed Ophiuchus toward the bush, Kira's talon snagged on a small rock and she tripped and fell flat on her face, Anakin tripping over her and falling down too. Kira released a frightened shriek as she fell down. At this, horror tore through Ophiuchus and the five macaws with him, and also through Andromeda and the others back in the forest. Even worse, Kira's shrieks had reached the ears of the fan-backed lizards, and their hulking heads armed with short alligator-like snouts and piercing eyes, snapped round in the source's direction. When their eyes landed on two leafy forms as they moved, hunting instinct took over. In the distance, some bird-like shapes emerged from above some trees. Kira then pushed her upper body off the ground with her wings and clutched her talon which was aching from being stubbed against the stone. Anakin also struggled to his feet. Ophiuchus then prepared to dash out to rescue his brother and the Spix macaws when he saw some of the fan-backed lizards walk over to them. Lavender managed to stifle a horrified scream as the monstrous sail-backed reptiles approached the two stragglers. Anakin then helped Kira to her feet but Kira struggled to walk from her hurting foot.

"Hurry," barked Ophiuchus, Io, Ganymede, Jojo, Lavender and Triton looking on, on edge. Andromeda and the others also gazed at the Spix macaw and four-winged archaeobird as they struggled towards the bush. However, they moved too slow. The fan-backed lizards continued advancing towards them, their moths oozing saliva and their eyes, fixated on the two birds, burning with hunger. Then when Jojo saw one of the larger lizards approach Kira and Anakin from behind, he did something very brave but also very foolish. Turning to Ophiuchus, he said "The torch, gimme the torch."

At this, Ophiuchus, a confused look on his face, handed Jojo the flame on the stick. Then Jojo rushed out straight towards the fan-backed lizard heading for Anakin and Kira.

"Jojo, DON'T!" barked Lavender.

"GET BACK HERE!" shouted Ophiuchus. Anakin continued walking with Kira, one wing slung over his back and hopping on one foot, toward the bush when the two felt a breath behind them, ruffling their tail feathers. At this, Kira froze with fear, making Anakin stop. Then Kira's eyes slowly turned round toward the back.

"Don't look, Kira," said Estelle from the forest, Neytiri and the others looking on with horrified faces at how close the fan-backed lizard was to the two of them, "Don't look."

Too late. The moment Kira's eyes landed on a board head filled with razor sharp teeth and a pair of hunger-burning eyes boring into her, alongside a large sail behind its back, a piercing and frightened scream exploded from Kira's beak. The lizard growled and opened its mouth, drips of gooey saliva dribbling from its mouth. Anakin also gasped in extreme terror when he saw how close the creatures were to the two. Then a green streak with a flame-like comet rushed in.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM, you FILTHY LIZARD-FACED MONSTER!" bellowed Jojo and with that, he jumped right at the fan-backed lizard and swatted it with the torch. A loud, agonised growl exploded from the sail-backed reptile as it withdrew its head. Then Jojo turned and helped Kira and Anakin make a break for it towards the bush where Ophiuchus, Io, Ganymede, Triton and Lavender were. Then Triton let loose a scream when he saw something in the air. Ophiuchus's eyes also landed on them and when they did, he called to the three birds still out in the open, "Anakin, Jojo, Kira, BAT-BIRD ALERT!"

At this, the three whipped round and to their horror, two giant featherless bird like creatures with membranous wings flew in and touched down in front of some of the fan-backed lizards. From their hiding place, Andromeda and the others looked on in horror. Jojo, Kira and Anakin continued rushing for the cover of the bush when another board head appeared in their way, snarling and snapping its jaws in an attempt to bite at the trio. Kira screamed while Anakin gasped in horror. However, Jojo lashed at the fan-backed lizard and scored his claws across the right side of its face with a talon, catching the eye in the process. The monster's head bolted upwards as it screeched in agony. Blood then ran from its injury. While the lizard growled in pain, the others looking on at it, Jojo, Kira and Anakin finished their run to Ophiuchus's group and made it at last. The lizard that Jojo had attacked then began to wipe its injured eye with a claw but that only made the injury worse. Andromeda and the others looked on, some of them repulsed.

"Did Jojo just…" began Charon in flabbergast.

"I think he may have damaged that lizard's eye," said Spock in amazement, "It is struggling to see out of where he had clawed it."

Indeed it was. It seemed that the lizard's field of view had been slashed in half for it was struggling to see what was on its right. Then suddenly, a large featherless bird-like creature rushed in and brutally slashed its claws down its side. A bat-bird had come in and attacked it. Then soon, a ferocious battle between the fan-backed lizards and bat-birds broke out. Seeing this as an opportunity to get by the predatory animals, Andromeda and Otulissa and the other archaeobirds led the others of Carla's group straight out of the forest towards the bush, Ophiuchus, Jojo, Anakin, Kira, Io, Ganymede and Triton having left already. Rather than small groups, they all went out for the predators were too engrossed in fighting each other. Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry, Titan, Mimas, Brooke, Miranda, Oberon, Alessandro, Velocity, Milo, Aiden, Azul, Phoebe, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon all ran in a tight group, wings linked and themselves surrounded by the archaeobirds as they made a hasty dash by the predatory animals and through the desert-like patch. On the way, a turn of behaviour seemed to have taken place in the fan-backed lizards. The bat-bird had killed the lizard that Jojo had attacked and when those at the back, Velocity, Alessandro and Miranda looked back, they sharply gasped in shock.

"Are those other sail-backed lizards…" began Alessandro. Velocity frowned and saw that the other sail-backed lizards were gorging themselves on the carcass of the lizard that had died.

"They're _cannibals_ ," she muttered.

"Those fan-backed lizards have been known to prey on their own species," said Spock, "Anyway, let's just reach the patch of forest on the other side."

Velocity, Alessandro and Miranda obeyed and continued running with the others towards a patch of forest across the desert-like patch.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24- Carla's group's expedition continues**

Carla and company had finally made it to the safety of the patch of trees, having finally overcome the first obstacle: the Fan-Backed Lizard Field with its terrifying inhabitants, the fan-backed lizards or _Dimetrodon_ as identified by Bia. However, after Kira and Anakin's near brush with death at the jaws of one of the dangerous sail-backed reptiles, the group was shaking. As soon as all had arrived in the safety of the trees, Ophiuchus shot Jojo a furious glare as he cleaned his talon of the fan-backed lizard's blood, the one he used to claw the lizard, in a puddle.

"You BRAINLESS NITWIT," he bellowed, "You COULD have been KILLED!"

Jojo flinched as the archaeobird shouted at him. Then Ophiuchus's furious look changed to one of relief.

"But it certainly was a brave move despite it being so foolish," he said. Spock stepped in and said, "That is something we have never at all seen before, an outsider attacking one of those predatory animals like that."

"I couldn't let those beasts kill Kira and Anakin," said Jojo as he finished washing his talon of the blood, his talon clean and dark grey again, free of any spots of the dried rusty red liquid. Then Carla, Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Justin and Matilda came in.

"What happened back there?" asked Carla confused. Ganymede stepped in.

"You should have seen Jojo," he said, "He clawed that fan-backed lizard across the face and eye when it was about to sink its teeth into Kira and Anakin."

Featherstorm and his assistant, at this, shot the Roberto-like Spix macaw a thunderstruck look while Kira also gave Jojo a stunned look.

"You… just… saved… my… life," she murmured. Jojo shot her a glare.

"Like we've said before," he said, "We always help each other."

Aiden, who had also been watching the whole thing earlier, also looked on in flabbergast. Then Otulissa said, "Well, I think it's time we faced our next obstacle, and that is across a river inhabited by croc-fish and other water creatures."

"Croc-fish?" repeated Carla in confusion.

"They're amphibious fish that have a crocodile-shaped head and a thrashing tail," said Andromeda, "And they, alongside some other dangerous amphibious creatures, prowl around the large river that runs through the giant ravine which we call the River of Dangerous Water Jaws. They're just as dangerous as those fan-backed lizards." She nodded in a certain direction, "Part of the River of Dangerous Water Jaws is just ahead, outside this patch of small forest, but there are also snakes and some raptor-lizards running around as well."

"You lot did well to get through the Fan-Backed Lizard Field," said Otulissa, "But you still have quite a few obstacles to pass, and the next one is, like Andromeda said, the river."

"There is a set of stepping stones we have to cross," said Featherstorm, "And our next safety point is another large bush, capable of sheltering a large group of up to forty to fifty archaeobirds unlike the smaller bushes in the Fan-Backed Lizard Field," his eyes then travelled over Carla's group and counted each individual. He smiled and said, "Which should be plenty of room for us all since there are 29 of you…"

"That's brilliant," said Carla with relief.

"But when we get to the river's edge, we'll go over the stepping stones single file," said Andromeda firmly. Her face then turned serious. "And it's important that you do for the river's waters are very choppy, the current very strong and on the left side, it is deep."

"Yes," said Anakin, "We don't want anyone falling into the river as the chances of surviving it are slim."

"We must keep our eyes open and alert at all times," said Featherstorm, "Not only must we watch out for any predatory bat-birds flying overhead, but also for any of those croc-fish, snakes and dangerous raptor-lizards that might be on the prowl. Again, an outsider from the previous group had a close encounter with one of those dangerous creatures but he luckily managed to escape."

Some of Carla's group shuddered at the description of the next obstacle, and Ganymede and Io looked especially terrified at the sound of choppy waters and strong current capable of sweeping a non-swimming bird out into deep waters. Their father Jupiter had faced such an ordeal three years ago when that infamously deranged cockatoo by the name of Nigel plunged into a rushing stream with him and was extremely fortunate to have survived. Nigel was as well but he had been locked away in Tulio's Aviary to face the rest of his days being tortured by the lustful affection and kisses from Gabi who had never shown any signs of quenching her over-the-top love for the cockatoo.

"Right, are we ready to go?" asked Ophiuchus, his torch returned to him by Jojo. Some of the macaws nodded but a few others including Velocity and Milo, looked uncertain as nerves shuddered in their bodies. However, they nodded as well to confirm they were ready to go anyway.

"Right, then let's move," said Otulissa and with that, the group of archaeobirds led Carla's group through the small patch of forest and towards the other side. As they walked along, Otulissa said, "You don't have to worry about the snakes. Ophiuchus has that covered and he knows how to handle those legless reptiles, but it is the other animals you've got to watch out for."

"Has any archaeobird been attacked by one of those strange crocodile-like fish before?" asked Tiago nervously.

"Fatalities have happened at the jaws of those river monsters," said Andromeda, "But since my birth, the only incidences we have heard of were close shaves."

The macaws, Velocity and Milo shuddered with nerves. Then the group continued through the forest. As the group continued towards the other side of the small forest, the sound of rushing water was heard up ahead.

"Is that it?" asked Titan.

"Yes," said Featherstorm, "That is part of the River of Dangerous Water Jaws."

"That name makes the river sound more terrifying," murmured Mimas as she walked alongside Ganymede.

"That's because it is," said Spock, "It's full of dangerous monsters capable of swallowing an archaeobird whole in one snap of its jaws."

Mimas shuddered and whimpered at this. The group continued trudging through the vegetation of the forest, the volume of the rushing water sound increasing until finally, Otulissa said, "Here we are."

She pushed aside some leaves and Carla, Bia and Tiago and some of the others at the front looked out. What they saw before their eyes made their nerves jolt. The river appeared quite wide, and every part of it was rushing water. On the right side it seemed calmer but on the left side, there was more white water turbulence. The current was strongest in the middle but weaker towards the banks. Carla then saw a line of rocks protruding through the surface of the water running along the width of the river and then a large green blob of leaves on the other side of the river by some rocks. It appeared to be the next hiding place Featherstorm talked about earlier. Then Io, Ganymede, Estelle, Alexandre and Sheldon gazed at the rushing water, the former two whose eyes were wide as the two scarlet macaws were gripped by fear. While Carla's group gazed at the river, Featherstorm and his female assistant peered out into the stretch of sandy area between the forest's edge and the river's bank, checking to make sure that no raptor-lizards were about. They also checked the sky for any bat-birds. When they saw two shapes of the familiar predatory flying beaked reptiles gliding some distance away, Featherstorm's eyes widened with awareness. He then turned back to the others and said, "Right, I think we'll go a few at a time, up to six outsiders at most. There are a couple of bat-birds flying in the distance and I believe they are on the hunt so again, we must make our crossing swift."

Carla and her group gazed back at the two-winged archaeobird with fear and uncertainty. However, like before, with their home to save, they knew they could not back down. When Featherstorm asked who would like to go first, Velocity and Milo nervously stepped forward, as did Blueberry, Neytiri and Charon.

"We will," said Charon, determined though very nervous. Blueberry nodded in agreement as did Neytiri, the peregrine falcon and cockatoo. As soon as the five were ready, Featherstorm prepared to take them across the river.

"Right, what will happen is, my assistant here will keep an eye on those two bat-birds that are flying around overhead," he said, "While I scan the ground for any snakes and raptor-lizards and the river for any of those dangerous water creatures. But we must be quick as well as careful. The last thing we want is any of you falling into the river and getting swept away by the current. Are we ready to go?"

The three glaucous macaws, falcon and cockatoo all nodded though Carla, Bia and Tiago were wary of them going first. Three of them were part of a critically endangered species of macaw.

"We'll see you guys on the other side," said Charon to the others.

"Be extremely careful, Charon," said Carla.

"You as well, Neytiri, Blueberry, Velocity and Milo," said Tiago. The said four nodded.

"Yes," said Bia, "That river looks treacherous."

"It's probably more dangerous than the stream in which Dad fell into with that psychopathic cockatoo," said Io. She shuddered again as she gazed at the rushing water in the middle of the river. Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry, Velocity and Milo then turned and prepared to follow Featherstorm and his assistant, Andromeda, Ophiuchus, Anakin, Spock, Otulissa and the other assistant archaeobirds looking on. With Featherstorm's assistant's eyes on the sky, watching the two bat-birds as they glided about, Featherstorm ran towards the river, Charon's small group following closely behind. As soon as they were on the river's bank, Featherstorm, his eyes darting about and scanning the surroundings, hopped onto the first stone and then jumped onto the next. Charon decided to go first and he hopped onto the first stone and then to the next after Featherstorm. Blueberry went next, then Neytiri, who was very trepid, and then finally, Milo and Velocity and the assistant of Featherstorm last of all. The others in the forest watched with tension as the seven made their way across the river. Featherstorm continued stepping from one rock to the next until finally, his feet touched down on the opposite bank. He then rushed for the safety of the bush. Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri and Milo then landed and followed him. However, the one at the back was struggling. Velocity was stepping from one stone to the next, but she delayed each step. Behind her, Featherstorm's assistant, her eyes flashing to the two bat-birds in the air and to the river, continued to encourage the falcon to continue.

"This is not easy," muttered Velocity timidly as she jumped onto the next stone.

"Come on, Velocity," called Charon.

"You can do it," called Blueberry.

"Try to go a bit faster," called Featherstorm. Neytiri and Milo, as well as Carla and the others on the other side of the bank continued watching in nervousness as Velocity hopped onto the next rock. She wobbled and shrieked, her wings swinging in the air to regain her balance but then a pair of wing claws caught her.

"I got you," said the assistant. Velocity breathed a sigh of relief and jumped onto the next stone. They were nearly at the opposite bank but then Neytiri saw something protrude through the turbulent water on the right (or left from Velocity's perspective). At this, she looked harder and when she saw that it was moving, she drew in a sharp gasp.

"Mr Featherstorm," she cried, "There's something swimming towards Velocity and your assistant!"

At this, Featherstorm followed Neytiri's gaze and when he also saw the moving object, horror tore through him. Velocity continued making delayed jumps along the stepping stones.

"Velocity, get a move on, quick!" he called. Milo, Neytiri, Charon and Blueberry also called out to the falcon. From their hiding place, Andromeda and the others, especially Carla and company, also saw the object move towards Velocity's location.

"She's going too slowly," said Carla in horror, "If she doesn't make it across in time, she's gonna fall prey to whatever it is swimming towards her and Featherstorm's assistant."

"Velocity," cried Ganymede, "You have to speed up!"

Velocity jumped onto the next stone with the assistant following her. She was just three stones away from the safety of the opposite bank. However, she was too nervous to speed things up and the object Neytiri spotted first continued closing in on the falcon and two-winged archaeobird. A crocodile-like snout protruded through the water as it continued advancing towards the struggling Velocity. Then things really became tense as the snout was now seconds away from Velocity and Featherstorm's assistant. When Featherstorm saw how close the object, which was one of the river creatures, was to the falcon and his assistant, his fears finally reached breaking point.

"You two," he cried, "Look OUT!"

At this, the peregrine falcon and the archaeobird, who were on the second-to-last stone, froze for a second. Then their eyes turned and when they landed on whatever was approaching them, a huge splash suddenly exploded from the water near them. The falcon and the archeaobird, screeches of fright exploding from their beaks, made a hasty dash as a huge crocodile-like creature leaped out of the water. Featherstorm spread a wing protectively across Neytiri, Milo, Charon and Blueberry as they watched the whole action in utter horror, Velocity's name screeching from their beaks. The action was so concealed by the foam of flying water that no-one could see what was happening. Carla and the others watched in utter horror as the splash subsided, revealing a strange looking creature but no Velocity and the assistant archaeobird.

"What is THAT!?" cried Ganymede in utter shock at the animal that had leaped out of the water and had crawled onto the bank. The creature was not like anything Carla and the others had seen before. Its head was wedge-shaped, like a crocodile's and a pair of eyes was situated on the top of its head. There appeared to be a distinctive neck region behind its head and in front of its body and Bia saw a slit in the side of the creature's head, behind its croc-like mouth. The creature's body was slender with four fleshy limb-like appendages ending in a flap of skin which appeared to be fins. One of the fins was propped onto the stepping stone where Velocity and Featherstorm's assistant had been seconds ago. The body tapered to a long tail also ending in a large fin which swished at the air as the creature's head swung back and forth, its jaws snapping at the air as though it were searching for something. Carla's group could not believe their eyes.

"Isn't that…" said Io in utter shock.

" _Tiktaalik,"_ said Bia, "An extinct genus of lobe-finned fish thought to be the ancestor of all the earth's tetrapods."

" _Tiktaalik_!?" repeated Ganymede. Andromeda then nodded to the creature as it turned round and returned to the water, pushing itself off the rocks with its hind limb-like fins, its caudal fin swishing at the air throwing flecks of water as it did.

"That's one of the croc-fish we were talking about," she said, "They're very dangerous indeed."

"Wait, where are Velocity and Featherstorm's assistant?" asked Titan. At this, dread came over Carla's group and also the archaeobirds like a shadow and they gazed at the spot where Velocity and the assistant stood. However, they could not see any sign of the two birds at all. Across the river, Featherstorm, Neytiri, Blueberry, Milo and Charon also looked around but also could not see any flash of green from Velocity and the assistant's leafy cloak and mask anywhere in sight. But before Carla and the others expected the worst, someone shouted, "Boy that was close!"

At this, all heads snapped in the direction of the speaker and, to their surprise and jubilation, they saw a falcon and archaeobird dressed in their leafy cloaks emerge from a nearby rock.

"Velocity!" cried Carla in joy. As the two birds walked over to Featherstorm and the other four with him, claps and cheers sounded as Velocity, visibly shaken from the very close brush with death seen by her trembling body and bristled facial feathers, and the assistant joined Featherstorm. Featherstorm congratulated his assistant.

"That was quick thinking," he said, "It seemed that you must have pushed this outsider flacon out of the way in time."

"Oh, it's no big deal," said the archaeobird, "I knew I had to take action before that croc-fish had us in its jaws."

Velocity then shared a relief hug with Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri and Milo.

"I think once we are done with this quest and have got some of the treasure," she said in a shaky voice, "We're not gonna return here ever again."

"You can say that again," said Milo in agreement.

"The sudden appearance of that lobe-finned fish didn't half make us jump out of our skins," said Charon. Neytiri and Blueberry just said nothing and continued hugging Velocity, relieved that she had escaped in time. Then moments later, the rest of the group was across the river. Andromeda took Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Lavender and Kira who also carried one of the bags (both bags had been carried across the Fan-Backed Lizard Field when the rest of the group made a break for it during the fan-backed lizards' violent confrontation with some bat-birds) and they made it across the river with little trouble. Next came Ophiuchus and Spock who took Io, Ganymede, Alessandro, Titan, Mimas and Brooke who took the second bag across the river. However, the group had to hide as a pair of raptor-lizards came by, looking for a bite to eat but had been distracted by some small lizards, allowing Ophiuchus's group to slop by undetected. Next, Triton, Azul, Phoebe, Aiden, Justin and Matilda went with Anakin and some of the archaeobirds and last of all came Virgil, Alexandre, Sheldon, Estelle, Miranda and Oberon who went with the remaining archaeobirds including Otulissa. The last group had a confrontation with a snake but Ophiuchus, who was very skilled in dealing with snakes, drove it away. Then as soon as everyone was across the river and were in the bush, Featherstorm prepared to take the group to the next obstacle. He looked relieved that the river monsters and the raptor-lizards appeared to be low in number today. Normally this part had a lot of them but it seemed that they were somewhere else, which was why the rest of the group had little trouble getting past this obstacle.

"Right, are we ready to move on?" asked Featherstorm. Carla and the others, their trepidation melted away into determination, nodded.

"Yes," said Carla.

"Absolutely," said Bia.

"We're ready to go," said Tiago. The others nodded in agreement.

"Brilliant," said Andromeda. Her face looked less serious now.

"These next obstacles are only small and not as dangerous," she said, "But you must keep together at all times as we go through them."

"But as we approach the mouth of the Cave of Colours and Sparkles," said Otulissa, "That is where danger will increase for we will be entering right into the heart of the predatory bat-bird nesting grounds."

This sent shivers down the group's spines, piercing their determination and courage somewhat but their burning ambition to save their home prompted them to go along.

"Okay," said Carla.

"We'll talk about it more when we arrive at the edge of the bat-bird territory," said Featherstorm, "But for now, let's move out."

And with that, he, the other archaeobirds and Carla's group left the bush and disappeared through the rocks. Triton stole a glance at the river and saw another strange lobe-finned fish, the same species as the one that almost devoured Velocity and the archaeobird, as it jumped out of the river's edge in a massive splash and manage to catch one of the young raptor-lizards by the tail in its jaws. Flinching in fright, Triton snapped his head round and hurried off after the others as the lobe-finned croc-fish then dragged the young raptor-lizard into the water as it swam back into the deeper parts of the river, its tail and caudal fin thrashing at the air and sending water droplets flying before disappearing beneath the water's surface.

 **Meanwhile**

Blu's group was on its way to Manaus. It was a good number of hours' flight from the Sanctuary de Amazon to the city, but as the city loomed in the distance as a grey smudge, accompanied by the stench smell of city air, Blu said, "We're almost near Manaus, folks."

"Oh, that's good," said Jupiter, "And once we arrive there, we'll be looking for some supplies before heading off to Guyana."

Blu's group was flying in formation and in small groups. Blu and Jewel flew at the front; Roberto, Brisa and Felix flew close to their left with Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos, and Jupiter, Ruby, Europa and Callisto, Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus, and Esmeralda, Uranus, Ariel, Umbriel and Oberon spanning back and to their left, and Travis, Sunset, Rosa, Eustace, Cometa, Lightning and Orion, Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Jasmine, and Zephyr, Venus, Charlotte, Ceres, Cobalto, Aurelio and Wilbur, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Quincy and Flor to their right, and the rest of the group, Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Ramon and Dani (Sheldon's parents), Victor and his parents Pedro and Bruna, Michelle and Juan (Neytiri's aunt and cousin), and Alessandro's parents Murphy and Abigail flying in their own formation under the first lot. As the massive group flew along, the chicks wore ashamed looks on their faces.

"So when will we be on our way to Guyana?" asked Mars.

"Well, I hope to get this journey started by sundown," said Blu, "But we will need fanny packs, plenty of food, a map, a compass and some other things."

"And that might take a good while to gather," said Venus.

"But where are we gonna get all that stuff?" asked Roberto. Then an idea entered Jewel's head.

"I've got it," she said. All heads turned to her.

"What?" asked Brisa.

"There's a stall stand area in the city, just near the harbour where boats depart for the Amazon," said Jewel, "There are fruit stands, item stands and various other types of stands. We'll get our supplies there."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Zephyr. He then saw the uneasy look on Roberto's face.

"Are you alright, Roberto?" he asked.

"Yes," said Roberto nervously, "Cities tend to scare me due to memories of my time as a pet when I was abused."

"It's understandable," said Brisa, "Mind you; you used to seriously freak out at the sight of humans before we learned that there are some well-meaning individuals."

"Two of the things I cannot stand the sight of are poachers and loggers," said Roberto slightly angrily, "And there is something else that is troubling me."

"Jojo and Lavender?" said Brisa, to which Felix shot a sad look.

"Exactly," said Roberto, "I've kept having thoughts of them being caught in a poacher's trap, then loaded in to cages and taken away by those poachers to be sold like how I was shortly after a gang of those flying furballs slaughtered my family."

"Look, we will only be a few hours in Manaus," said Mars behind him, "All we're gonna do is gather those supplies and then be off to Guyana anyway."

Then Roberto's gaze turned to the group flying below them and saw the reluctant and discomforted looks on the faces of Ramon, Dani, Murphy, Abigail, Michelle, Pedro and Bruna. "That lot don't seem very happy at the idea of entering a human city either," he said, "Especially Michelle from Rudi's tribe."

Brisa's gaze followed Roberto's and sighed when she saw their loos as well.

"I'm not surprised," she muttered, "but when we find that rebellious and disobedient group of Carla's and bring them home, they will be facing some _seeeeeeerious_ consequences, I can tell you, as will these little liars."

Brisa growled the last part of the sentence as she became incensed again and as she shot Felix an angry glare. Felix, at this, flinched and continued flying on alongside his parents. Neither he nor the other chicks daren't say anything for fear that their parents would snap back at them, and when Felix flashed a sad glance at Charlotte and then at Phobos, Deimos, Europa and Callisto who were closest to him, they only gazed back at him with saddened faces. Then the group of birds continued flying on towards Manaus.

 **Later**

It was now midday and Carla's group and their archaeobird escorts had stopped in a safe spot, another patch of forest, to eat, eating the fruit and nuts and some other edible objects packed into the group's fanny packs and bags. They had passed by several more obstacles, all of which were small compared to the Fan-Backed Lizard Field and the River of Dangerous Water Jaws. The small obstacles included crossing a small stream and scurrying across a small patch of bare land inhabited by some more raptor-lizards or theropods as Bia and Ganymede identified them and now the group was well on into their quest, and Bia had drawn pictures of these supposed-to-be-extinct animals as well in her drawing book. After finishing their lunch, Featherstorm and the other archaeobirds led Carla's group further on. However, there had been a change in the frequency of encounters of the group with the giant predatory bat-birds flying overhead, leading the archaeobirds to hide the group more and more.

"We're approaching the Predatory Bat-Bird Nesting Grounds now," said Featherstorm as he peered out from a large bush, his eyes examining the massive featherless bird-like creatures flying about overhead. "We're close to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles."

Carla and her group gazed at the terrifying creatures that soared in the skies above their heads. There were dozens of these animals and all of them lacked a single feather on their bodies despite their bird-like appearance with large beaks, though some of the macaws thought they got a glimpse of fuzzy coat of hair-like filaments fringing the bat-birds' bodies. The wings of the bat-birds were membranous like a bat's but they were supported by only one long finger. The membranes stretched from the fingers, arms and shoulders and joined the bodies of the creatures, right down to the ankles where a set of three clawed toes extended backward. The wings were similar in shape to a falcon's and they were massive. The wingspans were as big as a harpy eagle or flying fox's or larger. Ahead of the arm part of the wings were three fingers and another piece of membrane supported by a small strut stretching from the shoulder to where the wrist of the forelimb would be. The bat-birds also lacked tails, similar to flying foxes. They were mostly light grey in colour but many also appeared to be brown, black and greenish. Turning in one direction, Carla's group saw that some of the bat-birds were walking on land. To their surprise apart from Bia and Ganymede, the bat-birds walked on all fours. Their heads and necks were erected straight up, their beaks pointing down. The wing fingers appeared to serve as forefeet but the way they were placed on the ground reminded some of the macaws, Velocity and Milo of how horses and some other certain types of four-footed mammals walked.

The wings extended back from the shoulders, kinked forward once and then kinked a second time straight towards the ground, ending in the wing fingers sprawled on the floor. The fourth wing finger, the one that opened up the membranes, pointed straight upward.

"I had no idea that pterosaurs walked on four legs," said Miranda in surprise. Bia drew a picture of one of the dangerous bat-birds.

"There is evidence from the fossil record that pterosaurs were quadrupeds," she said as she continued drawing, "Based on a trail of footprints left by one species, scientists have come to the conclusion that pterosaurs walked on all fours."

"Well, there it is, before our very eyes," said Ganymede.

"I wish humans could see this," said Io.

"I'm afraid those bat-birds would dive into hiding whenever humans are around," said Andromeda, "Or if any human were to set foot here, those bat-birds would not hesitate to attack them."

"We haven't heard of any human making it out here alive anyway," said Otulissa.

Carla and her group flinched in revulsion as a horrible thought came into their heads.

"Don't tell me those monsters are man-eaters as well, are they!?" spat Azul in immense disgust.

"If they find the meat of any outsider creature tasty," said Phoebe as she gazed at a group of bat-birds as they lumbered around on the ground while more continued flying in the air, "Then it would seem likely."

"Have you ever witness those creatures attacking any visiting human, killing them and eating their carcases?" asked Triton.

"Well, I wouldn't say any of us have witnessed any of those bat-birds eating a human carcass but it has been known that they have brutally killed visiting humans before," said Otulissa.

"My grandfather was one of the few and far between witnesses of such an incident," said Featherstorm, "I believe it was a group of three humans who had set foot in here but they were set upon by a bunch of bat-birds who took them to a gruesome demise."

Carla and her group flinched in revulsion at this and some felt their stomachs turn. They especially backed away from the sight of the bat-birds as they continued walking around and flying in the air.

"Right, let's move on," said Featherstorm, "The sooner we get over this the better."

Then the group resumed their trip. As the group trekked on, the frequency of the dangerous bat-birds increased and more were spotted flying around or lumbering on the ground. Some of Carla's group members, especially Aiden and Kira, quivered and clung onto their friends as they watched the terrifying creatures continue to fly about. The archaeobirds led Carla's group through a deep fissure in some rocks that was large enough to extend above the heads of the tallest members. A row of trees grew and leaned over the fissure, concealing it, and the travellers, from view of the bat-birds. The fissure extended right past the Bat-Bird Nesting Grounds but the end of it opened up close to the group's destination, but it led deeper into the nesting grounds of the bat-birds. It took quite a while for the group to continue walking through the tree-covered fissure but they finally made it to the end. As soon as the group had arrived there, Featherstorm stopped the line and peered out from behind a bush concealing the fissure's exit from view. Carla also peered over his shoulder but struggled to see due to the range of view being screened by the leaves of the bush.

"Here we are," he said. At this, hope and joy filled the insides of Carla and her group but that soon faded when Featherstorm shot them a dark look.

"This is going to be the most dangerous part of our trip," he said, "So you're gonna need a LOT of courage to tackle this final obstacle."

"Why?" asked Carla timidly, Bia and Tiago looking on with dreaded eyes, "How is it the most dangerous?"

Featherstone answered this question by ducking down so that Carla could see why. When Carla's eyes gazed out, she drew in a horrified gasp.

"You see that hole in the distance?" asked Andromeda, pointing a wing-claw out into the open. Carla's eyes spotted a black hole in the sandy-brown rock.

"Yes, I do," she said.

"That's the entrance to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles," said Andromeda, "But, between our position and it, the entire area has absolutely no bushes or trees for us to hide from those predatory bat-birds."

Carla gazed out into the open and saw that Andromeda's point was true. Stretching between the group's location and the mouth to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles was a large patch of bare rock and ground. There were hardly a flash of green except for a few patches of short grass but there were no bushes or trees to provide cover at all. Furthermore, the patch was riddled with dozens and dozens of highly dangerous predatory bat-birds that flew overhead or walked around. Many of the predatory bat-birds nested in the cliffs above and around the Cave of Colours and Sparkles' mouth, but Carla, Bia and Tiago saw dozens of holes perforating the rock face like cheese. This was presumably where the nests were as dozens of bat-birds flew to and fro from them. The stomachs of the three Spix macaws, as well as the stomachs of the others, turned harshly and their hearts leaped into their throats. Because of the immensely dangerous part of the giant ravine, the archaeobirds had dubbed this part as 'The Bat-Birds' Prey's Graveyard' for deaths often occurred here. Due to no protective covering, travellers were spotted easily by the predatory bat-birds and easy pickings had been common. Any prey of the bat-birds that wandered here were simply sitting ducks for the terrifying apex air predators of the Jurassic-like jungle. This meant that haste was essential. Was it any wonder that the archaeobirds rarely visited this part of their ravine? After examining the position of the bat-birds and estimating how many were flying around or perched on the cliffs or ground, Featherstorm turned to the others and began to make a plan.

"Right, this is the part where we must be very quick," he said, "There is no cover of any bushes or trees between here and the mouth of the Cave as you can see, so the only way to get to the Cave's mouth is through speed with no delay whatsoever."

Carla and the others shuddered with immense trepidation at the most dangerous part of their quest. Not only will they have to rush for the cave but back to the entrance to the fissure as well once they had harvest as much treasure as they could carry without struggling to fly. The bag holders clutched the bags tightly, ready to make the dash.

"But once we reach the cave's entrance; that is where we will be safe for the entrance is too small for any bat-birds to reach through," said Featherstorm, "That's when we can get to work but first, let's get by this dangerous obstacle."

"I have a question," said Titan.

"Yes," said Featherstorm.

"Would a distraction be appropriate?"

"I'm afraid that's too risky," said Featherstorm, "Those bat-birds are fast and are capable of catching even the most agile of flying outsiders," he then looked up at the torch and added, "But the only thing they hate is fire. Here's what we're gonna do…"

At this, the group gathered closer as Featherstone began to discuss the plan.

"We're gonna go one by one or two by two to the cave," he said, "Accompanying them will be an archaeobird with a torch that will be the only thing to keep the bat-birds away from us, but timing is essential for there are a lot of bat-birds present in this part of the ravine. Even if some are driven away by the torches, another could still snatch one of you so we must be very quick."

Carla and the others, gulps sounding from each of them, nodded. Then Featherstorm, together with Anakin, Ophiuchus, Otulissa, Andromeda and Spock and the other assistant archaeobirds prepared to take the group to the cave's mouth while Carla and her group prepared for the biggest test of their courage and also the most dangerous part of their quest. They hoped that this will be the only time they will face this highly dangerous and risky part and that they would never have to face it ever again for the rest of their lives.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25- the final obstacle and a cave full of colours and sparkles**

Featherstorm and the other archaeobirds with him including Andromeda, her mother Otulissa, brothers Ophiuchus and Anakin and cousin Spock prepared to take Carla's group through the open and exposed patch known as the Bat-Bird's Prey's Graveyard towards the Cave of Colours and Sparkles. The group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo shivered as they gazed at the number of bat-birds roaming near the cave's mouth. It was like something straight pout of a fairy tale about treasure being guarded by a monster such as a dragon, and this indeed was like one. However, Carla's group knew they had to take the chance of reaching the treasure deposit, or the Colours and Sparkles as it is known to the archaeobirds, if they were to save the Sanctuary de Amazon and their homes from the debt crisis. The group was to go in pairs but since there were 29 birds, one of them will have to go on his or her own. Carla and Justin had decided to go first while the rest stayed in the safety of the bush and the fissure's end. Nervously, the two linked wings as Featherstorm prepared to take the two to the Cave's mouth. Their hearts pounded in their chests and they were shaking. The others looked on, also shuddering with their hearts in their throats. They dreaded seeing a bat-bird come in and scoop either Carla, Justin or worse, both away to feed to their babies or eat themselves. Then as soon as the two Spix macaws were ready, Featherstorm and an assistant archaeobird from Andromeda's clan, their torches in their wing claws, prepared to make the dash.

"Right, you two ready?" said Featherstorm. Carla and Justin nodded.

"Yes," they both nervously said. The tension seemed to increase exponentially as the moment approached.

"Be careful sis," murmured Tiago worriedly. Bia and the others nodded in agreement.

"Okay, on three, we make a mad dash for that hole in the cliff over there," said Featherstorm. Carla and Justin then ducked down, poised to leap out and make a run for it the moment Featherstorm gave the signal.

"Right, one…" said Featherstorm. Shivers came over Carla and Justin's bodies and they began to tremble like a leaf.

"Two…" The others looked on, Bia clutching Virgil's wing while Tiago clutched Matilda's. Then when 'Three' exploded from Featherstorm's snout-like beak, four green leafy-cloaked blurs exploded from the bush and made a beeline for the cave's entrance. Carla and Justin ran faster than they had ever run before. Featherstorm led the way, the flames of his torch trailing behind in the gust like a comet while the assistant followed Carla and Justin close behind, her torch also like a flaming comet on a stick. As the four ran hastily for the cave, bat-birds continued flying around when one of them spotted four leafy forms move like mice running from a cat towards the cave. With a loud screech, the giant bat-like creature swooped down upon the quartet. Bia and Tiago managed to stifle a scream as the bat-bird's beak snapped shut right over the archaeobird's assistant's head and neck. However, he had waved his torch at the creature, driving it away for predatory bat-birds loathed fire. As the brownish beast resembling a cross between a bird and a bat soared back into the sky parallel to the rocky face, Featherstorm, the assistant, Carla and Justin made it to the mouth of the Cave and disappeared inside it. As soon as Featherstorm had signalled to Otulissa and the others that they had made it to the cave, the other macaws, Velocity and Milo gave a cheer. Then two of the assistant archaeobirds prepared to take the next pair across the dangerous patch. The next pair were Bia and Virgil, both holding one of the bags. Before they made their dash across the Bat-Bird's Prey's Graveyard, the two assistant archaeobirds, armed with torches, watched the predatory bat-birds closely and when they saw an opportunity to take Bia and Virgil across the exposed patch, they darted out, followed by the two Spix macaws. Bia and Virgil's talons pumped like pistons and their hearts raced in their chests. The two held the bag above their heads as they followed the two archaeobirds towards the Cave's mouth. Then within seconds, the four entered the cave and were safe. Fortunately none of the bat-birds saw them.

Tiago and Matilda went next and they made a hasty dash with another assistant archaeobird for the Cave and made it as well, though they were almost spotted by a predatory bat-bird. Then Phoebe and Azul, the other bag held above their heads made their dash with Anakin accompanying them for the cave and also made it, though one of the bat-birds chased them only to abandon the chase as soon as they were inside the cave. Next, Mimas and Ganymede took their turn with Ophiuchus accompanying them, followed by Titan and Brooke, then Sheldon and Io, Alexandre and Estelle, Kira and Jojo, Blueberry and Aiden, Neytiri and Charon, Alessandro and Triton, then Velocity and Milo. An archaeobird, including Andromeda and Spock, accompanied each pair across the exposed patch to the cave but there had been a few close shaves. A bat-bird had swooped upon Titan and Brooke, snapping its beak in an attempt to grab one of them but missed Triton's head by mere centimetres much to the shock of the others; Alessandro had stumbled and fallen down but had immediately got up and rushed after Triton and another assistant archaeobird, ducking a bat-bird that swooped down upon him and snapped its beak at him, rolling on the floor under the creature as it sailed over him before continuing. He had learned this dodging technique from his aunt back home and had put it to use in dodging the dangerous featherless bird-like creature and Velocity had another close shave with another bat-bird but had dodged. She continued her run after dodging the bat-bird that then flew back into the sky. Soon, 26 of Carla's group were in the cave with only three, Miranda, Oberon and Lavender left with Otulissa, who was going to take all three of them to the cave. Carla and the others gazed at the four still hiding behind the bush as Otulissa scanned the skies, waiting for an opportunity, nervousness burning within them. Miranda, Oberon and Lavender also gazed at the terrifying creatures. Then when an opportunity finally came, Otulissa, her torch ready, gave the shout.

"Alright, let's GO!" she barked and with that, the four leaf-cloaked birds exploded from the bush and made a hasty beeline for the cave's mouth. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Andromeda, Anakin, Ophiuchus and the others including Featherstone watched as the two great green macaws, Spix macaw and archaeobird rushed towards them. However, when the quartet reached the half-way point, things started to go terribly wrong. As Oberon, Miranda and Lavender continued running after Otulissa towards the cave's mouth where the others were waiting, a loud screech was heard and a massive shadow came upon them.

"KEEP RUNNING!" barked Otulissa as the four continued dashing for the cave. However, Featherstorm's voice screeched.

"There's a bat-bird RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" he called. The others all gasped and screamed, especially Carla, Bia, Tiago and Jojo for one of the three macaws was his sister. Indeed there was. Swooping down like a massive predatory bird behind Miranda, Oberon and Lavender, an enormous predatory bat-bird closed in behind them. The three macaws flashed a terrified glance at the frightening creature; its hunger-filled eyes fixated on them, and then turned their gazes straight after Otulissa. Their hearts pumped like pistons and their bodies were flooded with adrenaline but before the quartet had reached the cave's mouth, an extremely frightened screech exploded from a macaw. Otulissa's group then burst into the cave, puffing and panting but then Carla and the others noticed something dreadfully wrong. Only Oberon and Lavender were present.

"Wait, where's Miranda?" asked Ganymede. Then the sounds of familiar screams reached the group's ears. At this, dread came over the group and Otulissa, Oberon and Lavender looked outside but when their eyes landed on Miranda, immense horror tore through them like a shockwave. Miranda was screaming and flapping in the mouth of a predatory bat-bird that was whisking her away towards the cliffs where its nest was. The end of the bat-bird's beak was closed on the end of her tail and she could not free herself from the monster despite clawing at it.

"MIRANDA!" barked Oberon. Then Lavender, pure rage and determination to save her friend overtaking her, stripped off her leafy cloak and mask and prepared to shoot outside.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" asked Andromeda.

"Rescuing our friend from that beast," snarled the Spix macaw and before anyone could stop her, she was off, a pale blue-purple blur, straight after the bat-bird that had caught Miranda.

"Lavender, GET BACK HERE!" shouted Jojo.

"Those bat-birds are INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS!" barked Featherstorm. Kira and Aiden looked on in utter horror. However, Lavender did not hear the shouts of the group and continued racing towards the bat-bird that had Miranda in its beak. Her ponytail was spiked out violently and her eyes were blazing pale-blue flames like the flames of burning sulfur. Then as soon as she was close to the bat-bird, Lavender, without hesitation, surged across the creature's head and scored her claws its face, drawing blood. Then the Spix macaw clamped immediately latched onto the creatures face and began to viciously maul it. The bat-bird, stunned by the surprise attack then began to thrash its head this way and that in an attempt to dislodge Lavender from its face, screeching loudly and angrily. In the process, its beak released Miranda's tail and Miranda was flung in the direction of the Cave's mouth. As soon as Miranda crash-landed near the cave, a pair of wing claws and some wings appeared and grabbed her. At first, Miranda cried in fright but when she saw that it were only Carla, Bia and Ophiuchus who had pulled her into the cave, she was flooded with relief. However, she was badly shaken, and tears of terror spilled from her eyes as Oberon wrapped his wings around her, full of pure relief.

"Where's Lavender?" asked Ganymede. Outside, there was utter chaos. At this, all eyes were drawn to the entrance. To their horror, they saw the bat-bird continue to struggle Lavender off its face by thrashing its head this way and that. Other bat-birds came around, screeching as the bat-bird finally managed to dislodge Lavender from its head. With a fling of its head, the bat-bird tossed Lavender in the direction of the Cave's mouth. Lavender, stunned by the unexpected turn of events, suddenly flapped her wings and managed to brake before she could hit the rock-hard wall too hard, though she still did slam into it. As she slid down the rocky wall and landed by the cave's entrance, the bat-bird, furious rage consuming like a fire and an enraged screech exploding from its beak, lurched at Lavender and tried to clamp its beak onto her to eat her but the Spix macaw bravely jumped up and slashed the creature's face a dozen times with her talons. Carla, Bia and some of the others including Featherstorm ducked as blood drops flew everywhere. Cautiously, Carla and Jojo peered out and saw Lavender continue to brutally maul the bat-bird's face. Jojo could easily see the firestorm of pure rage in his sister's light blue eyes as she continued tearing her claws at the bat-bird's face, making it screech in agony. Then Lavender jumped down from the bat-bird's face and dived into the cave's entrance before any other bat-birds came in and attacked, while the bat-bird, its face bloodied and covered with numerous scratches, screeched and flew away.

Inside the cave, Lavender was puffing and panting heavily. Her body was flooded to the max with adrenaline and she was shaking violently. Her talons were covered with bat-bird blood. Then three assistant archaeobirds that were trained in treating injuries came round to examine her for injuries. Fortunately, Lavender only managed to get away with some bruises but it could have been worse. The archaeobirds, as well as the rest of Carla's group, could not believe it. Lavender had just taken on an extremely dangerous predatory bat-bird single-taloned. However, some of the archaeobirds were very cross.

"You lot sure have some seriously CRAZY individuals in your group, don't you," growled Otulissa angrily. Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others just said nothing. They were too thunderstruck to speak.

"This is the second time we've had an outsider attack a predatory animal," said Spock. He nodded to Jojo and said, "First it was him with a fan-backed lizard and then it was her," he nodded to Lavender, "with a predatory bat-bird."

While Spock fussed over this, Neytiri turned her gaze to the back of the cave and saw that the rock converged into a tunnel. Once again her inquisitive nature took her over and she walked towards it and entered it, wondering where it led. Featherstorm then gazed at Lavender, his facial expression laced with disapproval at her recklessness.

"You were lucky to have survived attacking that bat-bird, you foolish outsider parrot," he growled, "But the next time you throw yourself at one like that again, you might not be so fortunate."

Lavender, who had calmed down by now then shot Miranda a relieved look. Miranda returned her gaze with a grateful look while Kira shot Jojo an awed look.

"You certainly do have a brave sister," she murmured.

"I didn't realise that she could be so reckless," said Jojo.

"Hey, I wasn't attacking that bat-bird to look cool or anything," snapped Lavender annoyed, "I was trying to save Miranda from being eaten by that beast."

"Well, you're just like my father," said Andromeda, "He had a very, very close shave at the jaws of a predatory bat-bird but he was brutally injured. You only managed to get away with a few bruises."

Lavender sighed as an assistant archaeobird handed her her leafy mask and cloak to put on again when Charon's voice sounded.

"Wait, where's Neytiri?" he asked. At this, the other birds began to look around the cave.

"Don't tell me she's allowed her inquisitiveness to overtake her again, has she?" muttered Virgil. Charon's face then twisted into a scowl.

"One of these days, her aunt's gonna give her a serious good hiding when we get back," he muttered. Suddenly, a scream sounded from the narrowed tunnel at the back of the cave, making all the birds in the group jump. However, it wasn't a frightened scream, but one of immense awe and delight. Charon shot the others a hopeful look.

"Sounds like she's found what we're looking for," he said and with that, Charon plunged into the tunnel. Blueberry, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender followed. Then came Estelle, Io, Ganymede, Alexandre, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Mimas, Miranda and Oberon, and then Alessandro, Phoebe, Azul, Velocity, Triton, Milo, Kira and Aiden last of all. Their hearts, which had been flooded with immense terror from the ordeal with the bat-birds, especially with Lavender attacking one to save Miranda, became flooded with immense hope. Behind Aiden, Ophiuchus and Anakin followed while the remaining archaeobirds stood outside, looking after the two bags and smiling. The tunnel led downward like a hill but then it levelled out at the bottom.

"What have you found, Neytiri?" asked Carla but when she, Bia and Tiago emerged at the other end of the tunnel which opened into a large chamber, a great "WOOOOOOWWW!" erupted from their beaks. The others then came in and were immediately awestruck, their eyes inflated at the sight. Neytiri stood to the right, her beak wide open and eyes bulging out of their sockets. The entire space of the walls, floor and ceiling of the chamber was completely decorated by glittering yellow metal and stones of various colours. The chamber was massive, probably about as big as Falkor's infirmary cave back in the Sanctuary de Amazon, Brazil. It took a while for Carla's group to absorb this overwhelming wonder but then Triton broke the silence.

"The legendary treasure as depicted in the Bizarre Birds and Treasure myth," he whispered in sheer amazement.

"If any human explorer found this," said Bia, "He's gonna go completely bonkers at the amount of gold and crystals present in this chamber."

"It's beautiful," murmured Milo, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and crest raised for he had folded his leafy hood back.

"Do you have any use for this lot?" asked Virgil to Andromeda and Anakin. The two archaeobirds shook their heads.

"No we don't," said Andromeda, "This is just a natural wonder we happen to have in our giant ravine."

"But it's a total surprise that you outsiders see any value in the yellow and crystalline Colours and Sparkles at all," said Anakin. Carla then knelt down and brushed a large lump of metallic yellow with a wing.

"Well, these will sell for an amazing price," she said, "Hopefully; it would be enough to save the sanctuary."

She then looked up at the others in her group. "Guys," she said, "It's time to harvest some of this treasure."

"Folks," said Alexandre, attracting everyone's attention. He held up a rock shard.

"There are some sharp shards like this at the entrance to the tunnel," he said, "We could use these to dislodge lumps of the gold and gem crystals to pack into our fanny packs and bags."

"Brilliant idea, Alex," cried Estelle excitedly.

"Yeah, well spotted," said Bia. Alexandre smiled as he accepted the praise. Then Carla turned to the others and said, "Right, let's split into groups. Some will dig while some will carry some of the nuggets and crystal lumps to the bags at the entrance to the tunnel to place into the two bags we have brought."

Carla then clapped her wings and smiled. "Right, who wants to be diggers?"

The wings of some of them went up.

"Can we help you?" asked Andromeda.

"These lumps are gonna be quite difficult to dislodge," said Anakin.

"Oh, it is much appreciated, thank you," said Carla gratefully. Then she began to pick out who will dig. The birds she had chosen were Tiago, Alexandre, Phoebe, Justin, Matilda, Velocity, Ganymede, Sheldon, Titan, Miranda, Oberon, Charon and Azul. The rest she had selected to be packers. As soon as Carla had made these decisions, she said, "Right, let's get to work."

Aloexandre then returned with some rock shards and handed one out to each of the diggers, who took it and set to working on digging at the gold and gem crystals while the packers prepared to carry some of the material to the bags outside the tunnel. However, some complained.

"I wanted to do some digging," muttered Neytiri.

"It's seriously hard work," said Blueberry, "It is best left to the stronger members."

Neytiri shot Charon's sister a sour look and sighed. Soon the Cave of Colours and Sparkles was filled with the sounds of stone against gold and crystals, grunts and cracks. Gold nuggets and lumps of gems were dislodged from the wall and packed into the fanny packs worn by the individuals or taken to be packed into the bags. As she carried some gold nuggets, Kira asked Jojo, "So what are you gonna do with this lot? Pass it on to some human friends for them to sell?"

"Yes," said Jojo as he followed, carrying some lumps of gem crystals, behind her, "I'm talking specifically about Tulio and his group. Hopefully they will take it and sell it and make enough money to pay off the debt mountain."

"So you guys have come all the way here and struggled past many dangerous obstacles just to save your homes?" asked Aiden. Jojo nodded as he placed the gem lumps into one of the bags. Then Io said, "So we're not the first outsiders to visit this place?"

"No you aren't," said Otulissa, "In fact, you're the second group of outsiders to have visited this place in so many years."

"Really?" said Io as she packed a piece of gold into a bag.

"I believe it's because it's such a dangerous spot," said Ophiuchus, "In fact this place is the most dangerous locations in our giant ravine and jungle with all the bat-birds flying around as you saw. We very rarely come to this place due to those bat-birds and the various obstacles that lie in the way."

"You see," said Featherstorm, "Had we flown, those bat-birds would have easily spotted us and snatched us out of the air. That's why we insisted that we come here on foot."

"Well, you guys have been a big, big help," said Jojo gratefully, "Without you, we'd probably would have struggled."

"No problem," said Otulissa with a smile. The other archaeobirds also smiled.

"Just make sure you don't pack too much of those colourful things that you cannot fly," said Spock. Jojo and Io smiled and then re-entered the tunnel to pick up some more gold and gem lumps.

 **Meanwhile**

Ilosovic and his gang consisting of Morgana the black caracara, Butch the red-tailed black cockatoo, Drax the fulmar, Valack the barn owl, Jafar the orange-breasted falcon, Elektra the barred-breasted falcon, Drizella the horned owl, Gaston the highly muscular black eagle and a group of magpies and ravens continued trekking through the jungle. Around them, various strange mammals and reptiles darted past in the vegetation. Ilosovic's single green eye spotted one such mammal.

"You know something," he muttered to his gang members, "It's strange to see animals like those. Aren't they supposed to be extinct?"

Morgana stared hard at the creature as it darted into some bushes. "Hmm, that animal resembles some mammal I have heard whose remains have been found in the same layer of rocks as those dinosaurs."

"And those reptiles," said Valack as he saw two theropods dart past, "They should have died out with the dinosaurs as well."

"They should be called living fossils, then," muttered Drax.

"Look, let's resume our search for that group of brats led by that fatso blue macaw and give them a piece of our minds," snapped Ilosovic, "We have no time for gazing at these insignificant creatures."

The others all sighed and continued following their frigatebird leader through the jungle. Then suddenly, a rustling sound made the group stop and scan the environment warily.

"Now what?" growled Ilosovic snappily. Butch, his crest raised, raked the surroundings with his eyes while the others looked wary. The magpies and ravens huddled together as they also scanned the environment as well. Then suddenly, Drax's eyes landed on something through some bushes and ferns.

"Guys, look," he said. At this, the other gangsters' heads turned and followed the fulmar's gaze. What the gangsters saw was a creature but most of its body was covered with a leafy robe and hood and its face a leafy mask. Two more similar creatures, also dressed in leafy robes and masks, emerged from a bush behind it. However, Drizella noticed something odd about the creatures' legs and tail that extended out from under their robes.

"Their legs resemble wings," she said, "And they also appear to have a… bony tail ending in a fan of feathers."

"Wing-like legs and a bony tail?" repeated Jafar. But then realisation dawned upon him.

"Wait, could those three be some of the primitive feathered dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous era?" he told the others. When the other gangsters shot him a confused look, Jafar added, "Then why is a population of them still alive after all this time since the dinosaurs?"

"Are you saying those three could well be descendants of those feathered dinosaurs that died out with the non-bird dinos?" said Ilosovic with a confused frown.

"Well, I'm no palaeontologist or biologist," said Jafar, his eyes shut, "But I have heard of some strange feathered creatures that had long bony tails and even feathered legs, like _Microraptor_ for instance. Maybe those three creatures could be similar to that feathered dinosaur-like animal, or even descendants of those feathered dinosaurs that had managed to survive extinction and continue to thrive to this day?"

Ilosovic continued gazing at the trio of creatures, which were cloaked archaeobirds, as they had a conversation, not noticing the gangster birds' presence.

"Well, those so-called living fossil dinosaur-like creatures aren't important either," he growled, "Let's just continue finding Fatty Spix macaw and her group."

The other gangsters pulled their gazes away from the three archaeobirds and continued their search after Ilosovic.

 **Hours later**

Carla and company have finally filled their fanny packs and the two bags with the gold and gems. They had worked ever so hard to harvest some of the treasure, also called Colours and Sparkles to the archaeobirds, and they were now ready to head back. The fanny packs and bags had been filled so that they could be easily carried but Carla and her group knew that the gold and gems will make a lot of money, hopefully enough to save the sanctuary from losing its status as a protected reserve. They had been away from home for over a week now, and were now ready for the return journey.

The way back had been as risky as the trip to the cave, but fortunately, Carla and company were swifter despite the weight of their harvested treasure, especially in the Bat-Bird's Prey's Graveyard area. They, together with their archaeobird escorts, passed through the same obstacles during the forward journey. They went over the dangerous River of Dangerous Water Jaws (via the stepping stones, this time with little hesitation), and then back through the Fan-Backed Lizard Field where Carla and company caught sighted the _Dimetrodon_ creatures once again. Then, hours later, Carla and company arrived back in the safety of the jungle where it was more difficult for predatory bat-birds to find and catch them. By the time they had arrived back at Featherstorm's clan's grove, it was approaching sunset, the sun sinking lower in the western sky. Because of this, Featherstorm had insisted that Carla's group spend the night in either their grove or Otulissa and Talonclaw's giant tree and leave by morning. However, Carla and her group, who were eager to leave the legendary giant ravine, insisted that they leave despite it coming close to sundown. After much persuasion, Featherstorm finally allowed Carla and company to leave. After having dinner and thanking the archaeobirds for all their help and hospitality, Carla and company, their fanny packs and two bags full of the treasure, left Featherstorm's clan's grove, destined for the Great Rocky Wall, though some archaeobirds, among them Anakin and Spock, accompanied them while Andromeda, Otulissa and Ophiuchus, after thanking Featherstorm for their help, returned to their own clan.

 **Later**

The sun was now completely set, and the Jurassic Jungle, as Carla and the others now sometimes called it, was plunged into the darkness of the light. However, the western horizon was still illuminated by the sun's rays but that too will eventually be eaten away by the dark night sky. It was partly cloudy and the stars and moon shone through the patches of cloud covering. In one part of the jungle, Carla and the others continued flying slowly with Anakin and Spock accompanying them. The macaws, Velocity and Milo did not have their leaf cloaks and masks with them for they were no longer needed. Carla and company were totally relieved to be far away from the predatory bat-birds' lair and they were also glowing with ride at their achievement. They had risked their lives finding this place, and also tackled challenging and dangerous obstacles such as the predatory bat-birds and have pulled through together. Furthermore, they had protected each other from becoming a meal to the predatory animals that lived, with three narrowly escaping death: Kira from a fan-backed lizard, Velocity from a croc-fish, and Miranda from a predatory bat-bird if it wasn't for Lavender's intervention. It truly had been a challenging and perilous quest for the group but to make it complete, they now had to deliver the treasure to Tulio and his team. As the group passed through the dark jungle, Anakin and Spock wore sad looks on their faces as they walked along the ground with their torches just under the group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo.

"Something troubling you, you two?" asked Justin as he helped to carry one of the bags. Spock shot him a saddened gaze.

"It's the thought of you guys leaving," he murmured.

"We've become such good friends with you," said Anakin in an equally saddened voice. He sounded as though he was going to cry based on the edginess of his voice. Justin and the others felt a flash of sympathy and Carla flew down to them.

"We'll always remember you and your clan, you two," said she, "It's a shame you can't come with us."

"Dad has forbidden us from going with you guys," said Anakin, "He and Mom don't approve of any of us going beyond the Great Rocky Wall to the outside world because of humans since we have a very bad history with them."

The other macaws, Velocity and Milo descended from the air and stood before two archaeobirds, grateful looks on their faces.

"Tell your family and clan that we'll always remember you lot," said Justin in an edgy voice. Anakin and Spock smiled and nodded.

"Sorry we can't hug you because of those torches you're holding," said Bia. At this, Spock handed Anakin his torch and began to hug each of the birds one by one, much to their surprise. Anakin did the same while Spock held both of their torches. After Anakin had broken the hug with Velocity, Carla said, "Right, we need to be out of here and find someplace to sleep before it gets completely dark."

However, no sooner than these words left Carla's beak when suddenly, "I'm afraid that's gonna have to wait, Fatso Spix macaw!"

At this, immense shock and dread tore through the group. Anakin and Spock flinched at the unexpected voice as Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others including Kira and Aiden, who recognised the voice's owner, began to scan the dark environment until Carla's eyes landed on a group of shadowy figures, their eyes gleaming with immense scorn as they fixed upon Carla and her group. The one at the front's green eye was particularly stuffed to the pupils with malice as it bore into Carla and her group.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26- dire situations**

"ILOSOVIC!" barked Carla, rage and disgust burning inside her, "What are you and your horrible gang doing here!?"

Bia and Tiago flanked her, both their brown and hazel eyes on fire with rage as well. Justin, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender were especially furious, the latter two's crests spiked out all over the place, while Matilda was afraid and dumbfounded. The Spix macaws had the two bags filled with treasure behind them. Ganymede had his wings spread protectively across Mimas, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon while Io glared at Ilosovic and his gang also with volcanic yellow eyes, her fiery temper streak she had inherited from Jupiter showing itself. Titan and Brooke also glared fiercely at the gangster group while Miranda and Oberon concealed themselves behind the Spix macaws. Charon, Blueberry, Azul and Phoebe looked absolutely furious and Phoebe was barely restraining the urge to leap at Ilosovic and claw off his scornful face while Neytiri, Triton and Alessandro cowered behind Charon and Blueberry, eyes flooded with fear as they gazed at the gangster group, fearing the worst and hoping that they do not find out that they had been to the treasure deposit cave. And Milo and Velocity just stood there, completely dumbfounded like Matilda as to how Ilosovic and his gang of birds had managed to find this place. However, Milo, his brilliant red and yellow banded crest he had inherited from his Major Mitchell's cockatoo mother Sunset flared, shuddered at the intimidating looks on Ilosovic's gang members, especially Valack the barn owl and the hulking Gaston the black eagle. Kira and Aiden were also stunned at Ilosovic's unexpected appearance while Spock and Anakin looked on, confused and curious as to who these outsiders were. However, under the confusion, they clearly did not like this gangster group one bit and an urge to flee and get help was bubbling inside them.

Ilosovic smirked wickedly at Carla's question. "Well, what are we doing here?" he crooned, mockingly repeating Carla's question partially, "Well, that is a very good question. Since you lot had refused our command to join us during our last meeting a few days ago in one of the forests outside this giant enclosed jungle, we have decided that," Ilosovic narrowed his single green eye, "we would come after you and punish you the next time we meet, and that time has come."

"Yes, absolutely," said Morgana evilly, the sadistic urge to jump at Carla's group and attack them threatening to erupt. The other gangsters and the magpies and ravens all laughed. Carla's group, however, was not one bit amused. Anakin and Spock's eyes continued to dart around the darkening surroundings; half watching for predatory bat-birds on the hunt for the group was in a loosely cluttered part of the forest where there were fewer trees, and half wanting to return to their clan to get help.

"Look, we don't have time for pointless delays like this," sapped Justin, "We've got to get home."

The sadistic and scornful grins, however, never left Ilosovic and his gangster birds' faces.

"I'm afraid that's not gonna happen, you lot," crooned Ilosovic wickedly, "It's time to meet your fate."

As he finished this sentence, Gaston, Valack, Morgana, Elektra, Jafar and Drizella came forward and flared their talon claws like cats. Fear tore through Carla's group.

"And that could include some nice juicy macaw flesh being served for our dinner tonight," cackled Morgana evilly. Some of them, especially Matilda, Triton and Neytiri, uttered frightened whimpers but Carla, Bia and Tiago and some of the others took up defensive poses. Spock and Anakin began to whisper among themselves.

"You DARE threaten to eat us; you bunch of vultures," snarled Ganymede furiously, "We WILL become violent."

Velocity then flared her claws to back up Ganymede's threat. Then Valack's big eyes travelled to Spock and Anakin, Kira and Aiden.

"And as for those four there," crooned the barn owl sadistically, "Those two new feathered dinosaur friends of yours and our two gang members, we're gonna show them some punishment as well."

"Unless of course," said Jafar, "They show our allegiance to us."

At this, dread tore through Anakin, Spock, Kira and Aiden. The latter two shot Carla and the others frightened gazes while Anakin and Spock took up defensive poses. They aimed their torches at Ilosovic and his group.

"Look, you lot," snarled Spock defensively, "We don't tolerate hostile outsiders. Now either you leave us alone or we'll take action."

Anakin nodded in agreement. However, the gangster birds' mocking laughs sent disgust jolting the two archaeobirds into flinching.

"What's so funny?" snapped Anakin angrily.

"You feathered dinosaurs don't scare us," crooned Ilosovic nastily. Morgana, Drax, Valack, Gaston, Butch, Elektra, Drizella and Jafar and the magpies and ravens all snorted in mocking amusement. Anakin and Spock, at this, shook their heads in confusion.

"Feathered dino-what's-its?" asked Anakin. Butch then cheekily shoved his beak into Anakin's face and said, "To put it simply, pal, you're not a _true_ bird like we are."

"In fact," put in Morgana, "You two are relics of our dinosaur ancestors."

Spock and Anakin shot each other another confused look as Butch burst out laughing.

"They sure don't understand the concept of bird evolution, don't they?" chortled Morgana spitefully.

"Maybe they're too stupid to understand anything," added Drax. The other gangsters laughed in agreement, making Anakin and Spock's eyes flash with hurt. That did it. Rage tore through Carla's group like a fire spreading through a flammable gas cloud and Io, her temper finally reaching breaking point, marched forward, hooked her claws onto Drax's beak and yanked him close to her face.

"How DARE you call our two archaeobird friends stupid, you rotten bullies!" she snarled, spittle flying into Drax's face. Drax, at this, raised a webbed foot and kicked Io in the stomach, knocking her back. Io gasped in shock and fell onto her backside, the weight of her fanny pack's precious treasure contents throwing her off balance somewhat as Drax, wiping his face of the saliva Io spat into his face with a wing, said, "Manners, scarlet brat."

Ganymede and Sheldon came over to Io and helped her back onto her feet. Then Ilosovic said, "I think it's time we executed our punishment, to be honest."

With that, he nodded to Gaston and the hulking black eagle, a sadistic look smearing his face, marched forward towards the macaws, falcon, cockatoo and two archaeobirds. Some of the birds backed away as the muscular eagle intimidatingly strode towards them, his beak twisting into an evil smirk as he enjoyed the reaction of the group. Then Ganymede, his brown eyes ablaze with the flames of rage, bravely stepped forward and jumped off the ground despite the weight of the treasure in his fanny pack weighing him down. However, as he prepared to slash his claws across Gaston's face, a falcon shaped comet darted in and charged into the scarlet macaw. Ganymede cried in shock but then he found himself pinned against the ground with a falcon talon to the throat. At this, the scarlet macaw gazed up and when his eyes met with the sadism-crazed pair of eyes belonging to Elektra, horror tore through him. The others saw Elektra pin Ganymede underfoot and cried in horror.

"GANYMEDE!" cried Io. Mimas tried to charge at Elektra but a line of black and white magpies came in and blocked her way while Gaston's talon lashed out and seized Tiago by the throat, much to the others, especially Carla, Bia and Matilda's, horrified screams. Tiago writhed in the muscular eagle's talon but the talon grip remained hard around his throat. Ilosovic then strode in, his green eye flaring with threat. Kira and Aiden looked on in confusion, unsure as to what to do while Anakin and Spock tried to get at Ganymede but were blocked by some ravens.

"Now you lot have exactly ten seconds to submit to us," the frigatebird growled, as the others of Carla's group tried getting past the other gangsters, "Or the Spix and scarlet macaws become dinner for Gaston and Elektra."

At this, Tiago's brown eyes gazed at Gaston's face as his tongue travelled around his beak, his eyes burning with delightful desire at macaw flesh. At this, Tiago gulped. Nearby, Elektra prepared the other talon claws and prepared to slit Ganymede's throat. Ganymede, his neck pinned down by Elektra's first talon, began to shout to his friends.

"No, guys," he begged, "Don't listen to him."

Carla, Bia and the others shot him a terrified look and then gazed at Tiago as he gazed helplessly back at them as Gaston hung him by the neck.

"I'm warning you, you lot," said Ilosovic threateningly, "If you don't submit to us after ten seconds," he eyed Carla and Bia, "Gaston will have your little brother for his dinner," his eye then travelled to Io, Estelle, Sheldon and Mimas, "and Elektra will be having scarlet macaw for her dinner as well."

Gaston backed this threat up by squeezing Tiago's throat to the point of cutting off his breathing, much to Carla and Bia's immense horror while Ganymede continued protesting against going with Ilosovic's threats. Kira and Aiden's eyes continued flickering back and forth from Ganymede to Tiago to the others while Anakin and Spock gazed at the two macaws as their lives hung on the brink. Then Spock felt a surge of determination and stepped forward, his torch aimed at Gaston.

"Drop that Spix macaw and have that scarlet macaw released and then get outa here RIGHT NOW!" he bellowed at Ilosovic. The frigatebird shot him a fierce, single-eyed gaze.

"Or what, four-winged dinosaur," he retorted. Spock replied by shoving his flaming torch closer to Gaston to prove his point, making Gaston gasp in shock and release Tiago. Tiago fell to the floor and expanded his chest to pull in a much needed breath of air. Anakin then went over to Elektra and also shoved his torch close to her as well. Elektra, at this, backed away from the dancing ball of orange flames and released Ganymede, who made a hasty retreat to the others.

"Don't you even THINK of setting my two gang members on fire, you two," snarled Ilosovic furiously. Anakin and Spock, however, did not budge. Elektra and Gaston, their eyes flooded with terror, gazed at the balls of fire hovering near them, the heat emanating from the flames. Elektra then tried to creep away but Anakin's wing caws holding the torch followed her every move. As Ilosovic sauntered towards Spock (who was really bluffing), the archaeobird bravely said, "I mean it, pirate-face. I will singe the feathers off this eagle."

"Maybe my message isn't getting through," said Ilosovic stubbornly. Then what came next sent horror tearing through Carla's group, Anakin especially. Ilosovic nodded to Valack. Then without hesitation, the barn owl darted forward, raised a talon and before Spock could react, Valack's claws came down across the archaeobird's torso, sending some blood drops flying. An agonised archaeobird screech filled the air, accompanied by horrified cries from Carla's group. Spock flew like a stone and crashed violently at the foot of a tree trunk. His wing claws clutched his side where Valack had struck him and his face was twisted in agony. A red patch began to grow through his lush metallic blue wing feathers. Anakin, when he saw this, rushed in and released a squawk of surprised, before rushing over to his cousin's side. Miranda and Oberon and several others followed. Ilosovic and the other gangsters looked on with sneering faces.

"That's what you get for messin' with us," crooned the frigatebird nastily. Miranda shot him an enraged look.

"Now you've REALLY crossed the line you BRUTE," she snarled.

"His clan will NOT be pleased when they hear or see about this," put in Oberon. At this, surprise tore through Ilosovic's gang.

"There are more like those two?" asked Drizella in surprise.

"Well, that's not important," said Ilosovic, his wing up at Drizella. "Let's just kill these brats right now, including those two feathered dinosaurs."

At this, Milo, Kira and Aiden felt something come over them. Seeing the scene escalate out of control as the meat-eating birds came around Carla and the others, their talons prepared to slaughter them, Kira shot the cockatoo a stern look.

"I want you to go and alert Spock and Anakin's clan, NOW," she said in a whisper. Milo shot her a confused look.

"But…" he began but Aiden cut him off.

"No time to argue," he said, "Just go and be quick."

At this, Milo hesitated but when he heard the terrified shouts of one of the Spix macaws and saw that Ilosovic had Carla by the throat close to Valack's talons ready to kill her while the rest of the gangsters had the others pinned, writhing and squirming, the instinct to bring help exploded within him. Without hesitation, Milo immediately took off his fanny pack for the treasure's weight would slow him down and within seconds, he disappeared into the darkening jungle, his wings flapping like mad and adrenaline pumping into his body. As soon as he was gone, Kira and Aiden turned to Ilosovic as he held Carla.

"Hey, Ilosovic, guys," said Kira, picking up Milo's fanny pack that the cockatoo had left behind. At this, Ilosovic and the others stopped their preparations to slaughter Carla and her group, and Anakin and Spock and turned their annoyed gazes at the glaucous and Spix macaws.

"What is it, Kira and Aiden?" snarled the frigatebird.

"Don't you see we're close to an exciting moment?" said Morgana. The other gangsters looked on bitterly as Aiden raised something in his wing.

"Have you noticed what those brats have got in their bags and fanny packs?" said Kira (this is a ruse).

"There is something we must show you," said Aiden, "Carla and her group have found something."

At this, Carla and the others felt dread tear through them. Some began to beg and protest to Aiden and Kira while some others barked enraged comments.

"Kira, Aiden," squawked Jojo, his crest feathers spiked out.

"Don't you two DARE…" barked Blueberry. Too late. Kira and Aiden had already unzipped Milo's fanny pack, exposing its precious contents. A colourful load of glitter and colour shone in the moonlight as it bounced off the gold and gems. When Ilosovic and his gang's eyes saw the beautiful contents, Ilosovic's grip on Carla's neck went slack. Carla dropped to the floor as Ilosovic then sauntered over to the fanny pack held by Kira and Aiden.

"Wow," he murmured in awe, "Isn't that…"

"Gold and some precious stones?" said Valack, finishing Ilosovic's sentence. Carla and the others looked on angrily as Kira and Aiden handed Ilosovic the fanny pack filled with some of the treasure. The evil frigatebird grinned as he gazed at the colourful items in the bum bag. Turning to the other gangsters, Ilosovic said, "Guys, have a look at the other fanny packs and the two bags those brats have been carrying."

At this, the gangsters set to work in getting to Carla and company's fanny packs and bags. Squawks of protest and a struggle then ensued. Carla tried pushing Valack's wings away from her fanny pack while Ganymede and Mimas struggled with some ravens with one of the bags. However, the group was eventually overpowered and soon, the fanny packs and the two bags were unzipped, revealing more colourful and glittering materials glinting in the night light.

"Woooaaah," breathed the gangsters in awe.

"Looks like these brats have been treasure hunting," said Morgana as she rudely gazed into Bia and Tiago's fanny packs at the gold and gems.

"Where did you get these?" asked Butch. At this, none of Carla's group gave a reply, only furious scowls. Bia and Tiago immediately reached for the zips of their fanny packs and closed them back up.

"That's none of your business," snapped Tiago bitterly.

"Now will you do us a favour and let us go?" asked Justin. Anakin looked on in confusion while Spock remained curled on his side, clutching is painful scratch. A sneering smile crept into the beaks of the gangsters.

"I'm afraid not, brats," crooned Ilosovic evilly. Suddenly, a piercing screech sounded overhead, but it wasn't from that of a true feathered bird. At this, the gangsters' eyes travelled this way and that in the air. However, Anakin and Spock immediately recognised the screech.

"It's one of the predatory bat-birds on the hunt," cried Anakin, "We must get outa here now!"

"Predatory what?" asked Morgana in confusion. No sooner than she said these words when a massive flying creature glided over the group. It had the same features and body shape as the other predatory bat-birds Carla and her group had encountered but because it was night, its eyes glowed frighteningly in the dark. However, this bat-bird wasn't alone. Three more then appeared. This sent fear tearing through both Ilosovic and Carla's group members. However, the group members led by the former did not care about that.

"Guys," said Ilosovic, "Change of plan."

At this, the other gangsters looked up. "If those flying creatures eat macaws, falcons and cockatoos," said Ilosovic, much to Carla and company's shock and horror but what he said next chilled them to the bone. "Then we'll have those creatures eat them while we get out of here."

When these words reached Kira and Aiden's ears, they flinched in horror. This was not going according to what they had planned but then more frightening bat-bird screeches made them jump and shoot their terrified gazes into the sky. The four bat-birds were circling above the group, like vultures above an animal close to death. It was clear that they had sensed prey on the ground and had come to investigate. Ilosovic's eyes then travelled to the fanny packs and two bags filled with the treasure.

"Guys, seize those fanny packs and bags," he commanded. And with that, the gangsters pounced onto Carla's group and another struggle began. Cries of frustration and anger erupted from Carla's group as they fought against the wings of the gangsters as they seized their fanny packs and tore them from around their waists and out of their wings. Anakin tried to intervene but was struck by a wing and flung back against a tree while Kira and Aiden stood rooted to the spot, too dumbfounded to do anything. Then after another while of more struggles, all the fanny packs and both bags were pulled from Carla's group and taken away by Ilosovic's gang members. Carla and the others were devastated.

"We NEEDED those precious gems and gold to save our sanctuary," cried Bia tearfully.

"Not to mention that we have worked ever so HARD to find it," put in Tiago.

"Yeah, we've risked our lives for it," put in Justin. Matilda, Jojo, Virgil, Lavender and the other macaws and Velocity also cried as Ilosovic nonchalantly shot them an unsympathetic gaze.

"Sorry, brats," he said as he picked up one of the bags, "But I'm afraid your quest is over." His eyes travelled to the two bags and fanny packs. "This treasure is ours now, and we're gonna use it as bait to lure in some humans so that we could attack 'em."

Carla and the others gazed back at the gangster group as they gloated and prepared to take off. Kira and Aiden shot them a saddened look as they prepared to follow Ilosovic's group, much to the outrage of Carla's group, especially Jojo and Blueberry. Then as more screeches exploded from the four circling bat-birds as they glided above the group's heads, their gleaming eyes glowing menacingly in the dark, Ilosovic and his gang opened their wings and took off into the dark, their talons clutching the fanny packs and two bags in their talons and gloating laughter escaping their beaks.

Carla and the others were left alone, completely devastated. The treasure that they had worked ever so hard to harvest had been snatched by those horrible gangsters. Not only that, feelings of betrayal and rage boiled with the devastation and despair at Kira and Aiden's abandoning of them. However, none had realised that they had already sent help but Carla and company were too blinded by the concoction of negative emotions that boiled within them. All of them felt like collapsing on their fronts, crying their eyes out but some terrifying screeches exploding from the bat-birds snapped them out of their trances.

"Wait, where's Milo?" asked Velocity.

"What are we gonna do?" cried Phoebe in despair.

"Our home's now DOOOMED!" cried Neytiri, tears streaming down her face. Then Carla's eyes fixated on the four monstrous bat-birds as one of them touched down near them.

"Never mind about Milo, the gangsters, our home OR the treasure," she shouted, "Those bat-birds are heading our way!"

"You'd better hide, NOW," shouted Anakin as he carried the injured Spock in his wings. At this, the air flooded with the sounds of flapping wings as most of Carla's group took off and headed for the trees. As Velocity and the last ones left, Carla shot Anakin and Spock an alarmed look.

"What are you gonna do?" she cried, "Your cousin's injured."

Anakin was about to answer when a piercing screech erupted from his snout-like beak as something came up behind Carla.

"Look OOOUUUUT!" he barked. At this, Carla only had enough time to turn round and see an enormous beak lunge at her. At the last second, the chubby Spix macaw, her green eyes flooded with terror, leaped into the air as the bat-bird's beak plunged into the ground only to miss. Then Carla flapped like mad after the others in her group except Milo towards the scatter of trees.

"Carla, in here!" shouted a voice. At this, Carla's gaze snapped in the shouter's direction and landed on Azul who gestured her to a large hollow. At this, the Spix macaw swerved for the hollow and dived in through the hollow with the others crammed inside for the hollow was just large enough for all 26 birds. Carla then uttered a, "Shhh!" and the others quietened down. Outside, Anakin had quickly taken the injured Spock to the safety of another hollow in another tree. He clambered up the tree's trunk; Spock hanging on to him and one of Anakin's fore-wings wrapped around him while Anakin's three other claws were latched onto the trunk. As soon as he came to the hollow concealed by plenty of branches, Anakin gently placed Spock into the hollow and gave him some damp moss and a large leaf so that he could treat his wound.

"Cousin," protested Spock.

"Shh," hushed Anakin, "Keep quiet and don't make a sound. I gotta do something to lure those predatory bat-birds away from Carla's group and bring in help."

And with that, he opened his wings and leaped off the hollow's rim, leaving Spock to look on in confusion. However, he began to treat his injured torso where Valack had struck him with the moss and leaf, which had stopped bleeding now.

Anakin glided through the air towards another tree and landed on it. Then he peered out at the four bat-birds, which had all landed and were lumbering around on all fours, as their glowing eyes began to scan the trees for any flash of colour. Anakin's eyes then travelled from one tree to the next until his eyes landed on an entrance to a large hollow where a vague outline of two or three macaws could be seen. At this, the archaeobird drew in a horrified breath after deducing that this was where Carla's group had gone to. The hollow was low, did not have many branches to conceal it and one of the bat-birds was precariously close to the said tree. Then Anakin began to think of a plan to distract the four bat-birds. However, as he was on his own with Spock unable to help because of his injury, Anakin soon realised he was helpless against these four giant featherless bird-like monsters. He began to hope that a patrol group of archaeobirds might come by soon. Back in the hollow, Carla looked with terror-filled green eyes at the four hulking pterosaurs as they continued limbering slowly by the trees. Their gleaming eyes which burned with hunger were scouring each and every tree for any flash of colour. Behind Carla, the rest of the group was crammed tightly together, shivering with fear with their eyes bulging out of their sockets. Bia, Tiago, Matilda, Justin, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender were huddled together in one group; Ganymede, Io, Estelle, Sheldon and Alexandre, Titan, Brooke, Mimas, Oberon and Miranda were huddled in another group; and Azul, Phoebe, Neytiri, Charon, Triton, Blueberry, Alessandro and Velocity were huddled in a third group. However, Milo was nowhere to be seen.

"Has anyone seen Milo anywhere?" asked Velocity in a low voice.

"Maybe he's flown off in a wrong direction?" asked Alessandro.

"Sshh!" uttered someone, making Alessandro close his beak. Then all eyes turned to the hollow entrance which was partly obscured by Carla. Carla continued watching the four bat-birds as they continued scanning the trees and began to plan a way of escape.

"What do you have in mind, Carla?" whispered Lavender.

"Let me think," whispered Carla in reply and began to put her thinking cap on. Could one of her group members distract the bat-birds and lure them away? However, due to the number of bat-birds present (four), Carla realised that this was impossible. Even if one were to be led away, at least one would stay behind and continue to look for the group. Maybe sneaking out might work? But then Carla saw how close one of the bat-birds was to their hiding place and immediately placed this idea as out of the question. The bat-birds' hunger-filled eyes were burning with determination and appeared very alert. As with any predator, their eyes and ears were cocked to picking up any sound made by their prey and even if Carla and company moved as quiet as a mouse, it would still alert the bat-birds. As Carla continued thinking of other ideas, she heard a small growl. At this, she turned her gaze and saw one of the bat-birds walk away after something.

Outside, Anakin had rustled some leaves to get the bat-birds' attention and had darted off to another tree as soon as one of the bat-birds' predatory gaze turned his way. However, as he looked out, his heart sank. Only one bat-bird emerged from the loosely scattered cluster of trees. The other three were still in the forest, looking for Carla and her group. Anakin emitted a word of frustration. There was no way he was going to lure _four_ monstrous creatures out by himself. His only hope now was to wait for a passing archaeobird patrol. Back with Carla's group, Carla continued watching the other three bat-birds as they continued searching the trees. It was clear that they weren't going to give up until they had found the group.

"Carla," whispered Bia, "Have they gone yet?"

Carla didn't look her way and only shook her head. Then suddenly, she slipped as she tried heaving herself up to get a better view of the bat-birds. Her talon claws raked over the wood, making a scratching sound, much to her alarm. The scratching noise made by her talons seemed to have carried for one of the bat-birds, the one nearest to the group's hiding place, had snapped its piercing hunger-crazed gaze in the direction of the noise. The creature then began to saunter on its four limbs, its wings serving as forelegs, towards Carla's group's hiding place. At this, Carla, her feathers on end and terrified green eyes on the creature, told the group to sink back, which they did while Carla ducked. The group timidly waited as what seemed like a short time seemed to pass by slowly. Then the sound of heavy breathing became louder as the bat-bird neared the tree. Next, the creature peered into the hollow. Carla and the others remained perfectly still, some trying to restrain their urges to breathe uncontrollably or shake as their terror filled eyes gazed at the reptilian eye of the massive pterosaur. A black, narrow pupil surrounded by a pale yellow iris was visible through the eerie blue glow of the eye. A membrane, which Bia had identified as a nictating membrane, flicked back and forth over the eye. The reptilian eye continued hovering in front of the hollow until finally, it moved away. As the bat-bird's eye left, Carla's group began to breathe sighs of relief.

"Man, that was close," said Tiago in a low voice. The others were about to agree but then suddenly, the terror returned like a thunderclap as the hollow suddenly jerked forward. The macaws and Velocity all cried in sheer terror as they were thrown forward by the rocking hollow. Outside, one of the bat-birds had charged into the tree and had jolted it forward. The creature charged at the tree again and pushed it forward, making the hollow violently rock again. Inside, the 25 macaws and falcon all huddled together and screamed in immense fright. Then Ganymede felt dread consume him when he realised what the bat-birds were trying to do.

"They're definitely hunting us!" he bellowed. This sent horror tearing through the others as the hollow jerked forward again. Then what happened next made the group's terror reach explosion point. As the hollow rocked forward another time with the macaws and Velocity thrown forward towards the entrance, a sharp tip of a beak rammed into the hollow and snapped at the group. At this, the group all screamed and cried as the snapping beak tip missed them.

"They're TRYING TO KNOCK US OUTA HERE!" bellowed Bia in immense fright. Tiago and Carla, together with Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Lavender and Jojo and the others, all screamed and huddled together as the hollow rocked forward again and the beak tip was rammed into the entrance. The bat-bird had shoved its beak into the hollow, trying to snatch one of the macaws while another bat-bird kept charging into the tree. The other two looked on, apparently waiting for their meals to be flushed out. The hollow continued rocking violently forward and the bat-bird's beak jammed into the hollow, snapping at Carla's group. One of the snaps of the beak tips caught one of Jojo's head feathers and tore it out, making Jojo cry in pain. The bat-bird withdrew its beak and spat out the lush blue feather before resuming its vicious attempts to pull out Carla's group while its teammate continued rocking the tree forward, screeching angrily. Then as the bat-bird's beak shot into the hollow again, it closed on the tip of Brooke's tail. At this, the female blue-and-gold macaw screamed as the bat-bird then began to try and yank her out.

"BROOKE!" cried Titan. The other macaws and Velocity latched their wings onto Brooke's wings and began to pull all their might, the tree rocking violently forward. A vicious tug-of-war between Carla's group and the bat-bird then began with the latter trying to pull Brooke out and the former trying to pull Brooke back into the hollow. Then Titan lashed at the bat-bird's beak and slashed it with his claws. The bat-bird jerked its head back from the shock of the pain and released Brooke's tail, sending Brooke flying into the other macaws and Velocity as the lot crashed into the hollow floor. However, this did not deter the bat-birds and they continued trying and force Carla's group out, one hitting the tree and the other ramming its beak into the hollow. Carla and the others with her gazed at the bat-birds outside and when they saw that they were showing no signs of giving up, despair consumed them like a fire. All courage had been burned away. It was clear that these creatures were too powerful to drive away and doing so would only result in fatalities. Lavender had been lucky to have escaped with barely a few bruises when she attacked a predatory bat-bird to release Miranda at the entrance to the Cave of Colours and Sparkles but still, it was an extremely close brush with death. Lavender, along with Jojo and Felix, were normally a trio of brave macaws but now, in this trapped state, any trace of courage Jojo and Lavender had was completely gone.

"Carla," cried Justin, "How can we get out of this?"

Carla, at this, gazed at him. Then her wing slid over to Justin's and interlocked with his. Justin, at this, gazed at Carla who looked back with sad eyes. Justin, seeing that Carla's expression was telling him something, then turned and linked wings with Matilda, much to her surprise. Matilda turned and then linked wings with Tiago. Lavender and Jojo did the same and joined wings with Tiago and Matilda, and Virgil as well. Ganymede, Io, Estelle, Sheldon, Alexandre, Mimas, Titan and Brooke then linked wings, Ganymede and Mimas linking wings with each other, their eyes fixated on each other especially and Io and Sheldon joined wings with Jojo and Virgil. Then Miranda, Oberon, Phoebe, Azul, Triton, Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri and Alessandro joined wings with each other and Charon, Oberon and Phoebe joined wings with Carla, Lavender, Alexandre and Brooke. Bia and Velocity then crept along and when they saw that other macaws had linked wings, looked on in surprise. Tiago, Virgil and Sheldon, at this, offered the two their wings. Bia then came over to Virgil's side and linked wings with her brother and Virgil while Velocity joined Sheldon's side and linked wings with Sheldon and Oberon. Bia then looked at Carla and Tiago who gazed back at her with sad eyes. Then all 26 birds prepared to be thrown out of the hollow right into the jaws of the bat-birds. Three of them stood in front of the hollow while the fourth prepared to charge at the tree. The macaws and Velocity then braced themselves as the seemingly final seconds of their lives began to flow by. Ganymede, Io, Estelle, Sheldon, Alexandre, Mimas, Titan and Brooke then leaned their heads towards each other and closed their eyes, Mimas and Ganymede touching foreheads, Miranda, Oberon, Phoebe, Azul, Triton, Blueberry, Charon, Neytiri and Alessandro also closed their eyes and turned their heads to each other, Neytiri, breathing rapidly, huddling against Charon, and then finally, the Spix macaws and Velocity huddled together and closed their eyes, Velocity doing so last. Their lives flashed before their eyes as the group then prepared for the inevitable. However, a loud screech rang out from outside but it wasn't from any of the bat-birds, alerting Velocity into opening her eyes. She gazed outside the hollow in confusion.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27- the rescue and the treasure returned**

The four bat-birds outside the hollow, when they heard the loud squawk, shot their gleaming gazes around at the night time environment. A flock of feathered creatures with legs like wings, leafy robes and cloaks and masks, and feathers that glinted with metallic sheens in the moonlight charged like a swarm of bees through the forest on small species of bat-birds, many with bony tails ending in a diamond-shaped piece, riding them like horses. On one of the small bat-birds was Milo who with Andromeda on her bat-bird, Rouge, at the front of the cloud with Talonclaw, Ophiuchus and Otulissa on their bat-birds nearby. Some of the archaeobirds carried torches whose flames trailed behind like comets. Milo had managed to reach Anakin and Spock's clan's home tree and had told them about Ilosovic and his gang (which he had referred to as 'hostile outsiders') and that Carla and her group and Anakin and Spock were in danger. After this, Talonclaw had arranged an emergency rescue group while Featherstorm (who had been visiting) had left to bring back up from his clan of two-winged archaeobirds. As the group of four-winged archaeobirds charged through the forest on their bat-birds, Milo caught sighted a metallic blue feathered form on the ground, waving to them.

"There's Anakin!" he cried and with that, Talonclaw led his group towards the creature which was Anakin. As soon as Talonclaw, Andromeda and Ophiuchus had touched down before Anakin, Milo took off from Rouge's back and began to lead the others towards the four bat-birds.

"The cockatoo said you ran into some trouble with some hostile outsiders," said Andromeda.

"Yes," said Anakin, "It was a gang of them. The leader I believe was a black bird with a patch over its left eye and a v-shaped tail. They've stolen the treasure from Carla and company who is in that tree hollow being attacked by those bat-birds," he nodded to the four predatory bat-birds as they screeched and backed away from some of the archaeobirds on their flying mounts, their torches aimed at their faces while the rest began to rescue Carla's group from the hollow, pulling them out one at a time. Then Milo appeared.

"Where's Spock?" he asked. At this, Anakin led Andromeda, Ophiuchus, Talonclaw and Otulissa over to the tree where he had placed Spock. Milo followed as the five archaeobirds climbed up the tree, their bat-bird mounts looking on. When Talonclaw arrived at the hollow first and looked into the hollow as indicated by Anakin, a sharp breath was sucked through his snout-like beak when he saw a metallic light blue bird lying on his side clutching his torso and a red-brown patch of dried blood on the feathers of his left fore-wing below the wing claws.

"The frigatebird which is the species of the gang leader had his barn owl member come forward and slash Spock down the side without hesitation," explained Milo.

"And shortly after that, those four predatory bat-birds came in," said Anakin, "I-I-I tried luring them away but they wouldn't leave Carla's group's hiding place. I had to hide Spock in here so that those bat-birds couldn't find him in his helpless state…"

At this, Talonclaw flinched in utter shock, before outrage flared within him. Nodding to Andromeda and Ophiuchus, he said, "Daughter and son, you help your mother and younger brother bring Spock out of this tree and take him to some clan injury treaters. I'll organise a search party for these hostile outsiders."

Otulissa, Anakin, Andromeda and Ophiuchus nodded and set to helping Spock out of the tree. Milo was about to help but Talonclaw stopped him.

"I'm gonna need your help in the search for those hostile outsiders since you might know them better than us."

At this, Milo shot Spock a glance as Ophiuchus lifted him out of the hollow into Andromeda, Otulissa and Anakin's fore-winged and followed Talonclaw to the ground. While Talonclaw set to organising a search party with a squeaky squawk call to some of his archaeobird clan members, the rescue party continued pulling the remaining members of Carla's group from the hollow while some of them kept the predatory bat-birds at bay with their torches. The last to be pulled from the hollow was Carla and she was badly shaken from the whole ordeal. As a female archaeobird placed her gently over her mount's back, she called to the others, "Okay, that's all of them!"

And with a squeaky squawk, another archaeobird signalled to the others that Carla's group had been rescued. Talonclaw shot the rescue party a look and then back at the search group.

"I'm gonna need at least twenty members in the search party," he called, "According to Milo, the number of hostile outsiders in that gang is around forty or above."

At this, Andromeda and Rouge came in, a furious look on the former's face.

"I'll go," she growled, "If those brutes have attacked our cousin like that, then I'm determined to teach them a lesson they'll NEVER forget. After all, no outsider attacks us unfairly like that and gets away with it."

As she said this, dozens more archaeobirds and their bat-bird mounts came in, signalling that they wanted to search for Ilosovic and his gang. Satisfied at the group size, Talconclaw began to issue them instructions.

"Right, you lot, here's what I want you to do," he said, "I want you to fly out into the jungle with this cockatoo with you," he nodded to Milo, "And find those outsiders before they depart over the Great Rocky Wall. When you do, I want you to attack them, take back the bag things full of Carla's group's colour and sparkle stuff since it rightfully belongs to them, and severally punish those outsiders. The cockatoo will help you identify them. You know what to do?"

The search party including Andromeda nodded to confirm they understood. Then Talonclaw sent them on their mission. Milo hopped onto Andromeda's mount Rouge with Andromeda and the group took off, some carrying torches, into the dark jungle. Talonclaw then hopped onto his bat-bird mount and called the others to return to the clan's home. And with that, the sounds of the flapping of small membranous wings filled the air as the rescue party departed for the destination, Carla and the others apart from Milo in tow. As for the four predatory bat-birds, they just took off into the night air, screeches of frustration over a missed meal exploding from their massive beaks.

 **Meanwhile**

Ilosovic and his gang continued flying through the dark jungle, evil gloats escaping their beaks and the fanny packs and two bags filled with treasure trailing under them.Kira and Aiden, who flew close behind, wore guilty looks on their faces and their interiors also boiled with guilt and shame, especially over leaving Carla and the others to their fate at the jaws of those predatory bat-birds. They also winced and flinched in revulsion at every scornful comment that escaped their former (so-called) friends' beaks.

"It sure serves that fat Spix macaw and her group right for refusing our command to join our gang," said Morgana's voice.

"Yeah," Drax's voice, "I hope those extinct flyin' reptiles would make a meal out of 'em."

"As for their precious lil' home," put in Butch's voice, "I'm afraid it's gonna have to be left to its demise as well."

Then the group broke out into horrible laughter, making Kira and Aiden flinch again. Suddenly, the two gasped when they saw a single green eye pierce them like a laser. That eye was filled with anger.

"As for YOU two," snarled Ilosovic, "You both are gonna be punished as well."

Surprise tore through the Spix and glaucous macaw.

"Whatever for!?" snapped Kira exasperatedly.

"For not killing that fat Spix macaw and her gang," said Drax with narrowed eyes. At this, Kira and Aiden looked at each other and then back at the gangsters.

"B-b-b-but," stammered Aiden, "We didn't expect to run into them after we got injured by those two eagles during our chase after them through the storm the other day."

"And why didn't you hear our cries for help after we fell from the air?" asked Kira. Ilosovic did not reply to this question. However, he looked away.

"I think you both are USELESS," he snarled, making Kira and Aiden's eyes flash with hurt.

"Is that why you just left us behind in that forest!?" asked Aiden in a thick and splintered voice. Kira also looked on, a dreadful feeling bubbling within her.

"It's 'cos we didn't have time to search for you," said Valack, "It was raining heavily and our feathers were getting soaked."

"B-b-but you still could have searched for us and took us to safety," protested Kira, shaking with rage and distress. Ilosovic, at this, turned his head away again and closed his single right eye.

"Stop acting like kids, you two," he growled, "You have always slowed us down since we took you in under our wings."

"Ilosovic?" asked Kira.

"What do you mean?" asked Aiden. Drizella shot the two macaws a glare.

"He means this you two," she said, "You both are often too weak to stick by our sides every time we faced trouble. At one point, one of you suffered a sprained wing after we attacked a group of tourists and couldn't fly as a result, which forced us to carry you along," Kira and Aiden flinched at this. Drizella swept on.

"We can't deal with gang members who demand our help all the time," she growled, "Especially for food and shelter. We always take care of ourselves!"

"That's right," said Ilosovic, "We actually expected you to join us but you didn't, so we just left to find shelter ourselves."

At this, Kira and Aiden gazed back at the horned owl with confusion but then it dawned upon them. Ilosovic and his gang expected them to sort themselves out of trouble, even if they were too injured to fly. This drew the two to a conclusion. It seemed that Ilosovic and his gang did not care for them whenever they got hurt. It was seen that when three of the magpies had got injured by Velocity before the gang's first meeting with Carla and company, the ravens who tended to their injuries wore disgusted and disgruntled looks on their faces. As Kira and Aiden thought about this, the discussion they had with Miranda and Jojo and some other macaws from Carla's group rang in their minds, the discussion that began to weaken their loyalty to and trust in Ilosovic and his gang. And the proof of Jojo's point about Ilosovic and his gang's care for the two macaws it seemed to be there, straight from the horse's (or the frigatebird and his gang's) mouths, especially regarding high expectations of them even if they cannot reach them. As this realisation took hold, Kira and Aiden's faces twisted into scowls as they glared bitterly and disgustedly at their so-called friends. Then finally, Kira's anger reached boiling point and she finally let her temper flare.

"You know something, Ilosovic," she bellowed, her brown eyes ablaze with wrath. At this, Ilosovic shot her an annoyed look.

"What's that, Kira?" he asked.

"I think you're an absolute uncaring, ungrateful, selfish, cowardly, cruel pirate-faced seabird who cares for no-one else but himself and his gang members who are strong enough to get by themselves whilst leaving those who are weak to struggle on their own," Kira spat. At this, Ilosovic and his gang's flight ground to a halt.

"What did you just say!?" hissed Ilosovic angrily, his gang members looking on with furious gazes.

"You've heard her, fish-eating pirate," snapped Aiden, "You never cared for us one BIT since you took us under your wing!"

At this, disgust tore through the gangster group and Ilosovic began to hover towards the two macaws.

"What has happened to your heads, you two?" he snarled.

"It seems like that you've allowed that fat Spix macaw and her group to soften them," crooned Drizella mockingly. The magpies and ravens as they hovered with some of the fanny packs and bags exchanged glances and said nothing.

"For all our lives you have brought us up poorly only to sometimes dump us every time we ended up in trouble," said Kira, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "Especially when I sprained my wing that day we attacked that group of tourists."

She shot Aiden a look and added, "He was the only one who remained behind to care for me until you lot decided to come back and carry me but you didn't do that out of love and care," Kira's eyes then began to weep, "You did it begrudgingly, as though we were an annoying pair of unwanted pests."

"We should have done this a long time ago," added Aiden, "But we were too young and too dumb to see the stupid decision we made in joining your gang and causing humans trouble, even if they are well-meaning."

"What about your families and friends, you two," said Ilosovic, hoping to get the two macaws to change their minds, "when a bunch of poachers left you orphaned and destroyed?"

"We took you under our wings because of that," said Morgana. However, the disgusted scowls never left Kira and Aiden's face.

"We MAY be orphans," retorted the Spix macaw, "And we thought we found a new and loving family in your group but after so many years, it turns out to be no family at all."

"You never really care for each other," added Aiden. He hardened his gaze and added, "Whereas Carla and her group DO."

He and Kira then stole a remorseful glance behind them and then gazed back at Ilosovic and his gang.

"We really wish we'd never left that poor group to their demise now," moaned Aiden in a mournful voice.

"Especially after that Spix macaw with the mop of head feathers saved my life from one of those dangerous animals that lives here," added Kira, before her scowl returned as she looked up at the frigatebird's single eye, "Unlike how YOU would have done."

Ilosovic, at this, remained silent until finally, he let his temper flare up.

"You've allowed that fat blue-feathered (bleep) and her gang to INFLUENCE YOU, HAVEN'T YA!?" he bellowed and with that, he was about to lunge at Kira and Aiden but the Spix and glaucous macaws had already taken off amongst the leaves of the dark trees before Ilosovic had a chance to sink his beak into them. At this, he darted his gaze this way and that.

"Where did they go?" he asked.

"I think we should leave them, Ilosovic," said Morgana, "They're nothing but a pair of spoilt brats that slow us down anyway."

"Good idea," said Ilosovic but before the gang could leave, a loud squeaky squawk sounded, stopping the group in its tracks.

"Now what's up!?" snarled Ilosovic bitterly. Morgana, Butch, Jafar, Drax, Elektra, Gaston, Drizella, Valack and the magpies and ravens all looked around, their talons firmly clutching the fanny packs and two bags full of treasure. From their hiding place, Kira and Aiden had also heard the squeaky squawk.

"Isn't that…?" began Aiden in a low voice. At this, Kira took off to try and find the sound's source. When she saw some flames glide through the night air in the distance, she immediately went for them, followed by Aiden. However, this was a bad move for Elektra had spotted them.

"Hey, there are those two traitorous brats," she called. At this, the other gangsters snapped their gaze after Kira and Aiden and began to give chase. Ilosovic flew at the front, emitting a frigatebird cry on the go to frighten Kira and Aiden. The two macaws drew in horrified gasps and began to beat their wings harder to fly faster towards the fireballs in the distance, which were the torches from the archaeobirds sent by Talonclaw to look for Ilosovic and his gang. At the front of the group, Milo who rode on Rouge with Andromeda, gazed into the distance and saw a group of birds heading towards them. He tried to recognise the bird at the front but due to the darkness of the night it was difficult.

Ilosovic continued chasing Kira and Aiden with his gang close behind and as soon as he was close to their tails, the wicked frigatebird began to snap his beak at the talons, hoping to injure them. However, this was not going to go far for Gaston's eyes caught something heading their way.

"Look OOOOUUUT!" he cried. At this, Ilosovic and the others looked up as Kira and Aiden darted to the left, just in time to see a colourful comet (reddish at the bottom, and metallic blue, green and pinkish-white at the top) come hurtling towards them. With a squawk of terror, Ilosovic's groups scattered but Butch, who was the last to react, couldn't move in time and was violently struck down by Rouge, Andromeda and Milo the moment the collided with him. Andromeda powerfully punched the red-tailed black cockatoo across the face while Milo leaped off of Rouge's back right onto him. While Butch and Milo careened towards the ground, viciously fighting, Kira and Aiden swooped down and caught the fanny pack dropped by Butch while the other archaeobirds on their bat-bird mounts chased after Ilosovic and his gang. Screeches of shock and fright exploded from Ilosovic's group as the archaeobirds violently attacked them, some snatching the fanny packs and two bags from their talons while the others kept them occupied. While the inferno continued in the air, Butch and Milo crash-landed onto the forest floor. The two rolled to a stop near a rushing stream. Milo shook himself to recover from the crash while Butch stood up. He had managed to find a rock shard and now he was advancing towards Milo. The half sulfur-crested, half Major Mitchell's cockatoo then spun round and found himself confronted by an armed red-tailed black cockatoo whose face was twisted into a revenge-crazed glare.

"That fat Spix macaw's group sure has some stealthy members among them, don't they?" growled Butch scornfully in a voice that sounded like splintering wood. Milo, at this, glared at the black cockatoo, his crest raised as he was aware of the dangerous weapon in his wing. His eyes then darted this way and that as he began to formulate a plan. Butch then rose his rock-shard weapon, aiming for Milo's chest. Above the pair, the aerial fight between the rest of the gangsters and the archaeobirds on their bat-bird mounts continued, but the commotion had attracted the attention of some deadly predators.

"I think we should have," growled Butch, "Just killed you lot on the SPOT…"

He rammed the rock shard at Milo but the cockatoo dodged, sending the rock shard smashing into the rocky face in a horrible sound and a shower of some sparks. Milo then dived and rolled and stood up again, his terrified eyes fixed on Butch as he turned round and rose his weapon again, poising it to plunge it into his enemy.

"When we first met you bunch of brats," said Butch, finishing his sentence. However, he did not notice an archaeobird on a bat-bird mount hover above him. Andromeda and her bat-bird mount, Rouge, hovered above Butch and prepared to swoop down on him and attack him. Milo saw a glint of metallic blue above him and began to keep Butch busy as the red-tailed black cockatoo continued sauntering toward shim like a predator.

"Especially after you refused to join us," continued Butch.

"Oh _yeah_ ," snapped Milo rhetorically, "It seems that any potential new members you and your gang come across you seem to say 'resistance is futile' in an attempt to force those members into joining you."

Butch raised his rock shard as Milo swept on, eyes burning with rage. However, he did not notice that another form was approaching him from behind. Kira had a stick in a wing and was poised to bring it down onto the black cockatoo's head.

"But you have NO chance in forcing us to join YOU, you gang of BRUTES!" bellowed Milo. In response, Butch raised his rock shard and lurched forward with a squawky grunt but a pair of blue wings latched onto the weapon, stopping it from plunging into Milo's chest. At this, Butch released a squawk of surprise but when his eyes landed on a familiar blue macaw, he released a snarl of fury. Kira and Butch then began to wrestle over the rock shard while Milo backed away, nodding to Andromeda above. Andromeda and Rouge then prepared to dive down on Butch as he finally overpowered Kira and heaved her off the ground. Kira crashed hard onto her back, the force of the impact drawing the breath out of her. Kira then gazed at the red-tailed black cockatoo as he towered over her, the rock shard in his wing hovering over his head, prepared to fly into Kira's chest. Butch sneered as he saw the terrified look on his face.

"I've wanted to do this since you joined that miserable bunch of brats, blue macaw," he crooned, "And I'm sure Ilosovic would appreciate me in putting you and your glaucous macaw friend to death for betraying us."

However, before Butch could plunge the rock shard into Kira's heart, a searing pain exploded from his tail, accompanied by a tearing of feathers. At this, the red-tailed black cockatoo rocketed into the air, an agonised squawk exploding from his beak. Kira then saw a reddish tailed bat-bird with a metallic blue archaeobird on her back stand behind where Butch had stood; its toothed beak full of black and deep red feathers that gave Butch's species its name. Milo looked on as Butch then fell back to earth but then Andromeda took action. Jumping off Rouge's back, the archaeobird somersaulted and screeching as she hurtled towards Butch and with a powerful kick of her leg-wing feet, sent Butch flying directly towards a rock. Kira and Milo flinched harshly as Butch smacked hard against the rock and slid down onto the floor, the rock shard falling out of his right wing as it was caught between the rock and his body. Then agonised pain exploded from that wing and Butch emitted a piercing shrill of agony as he clutched his wing. Andromeda looked on with an unsympathetic gaze as Aiden hovered with one of the fanny packs close to Milo.

"It's what you get for causing us and friendly outsider trouble, you hostile piece of work," Andromeda snarled, "Now your friends are gonna have to carry you out of here since you will not be able to fly with that broken wing."

Butch glared back at the archaeobird with malice-filled eyes, his face twisted in agony as he clutched his right wing. Then there was commotion in the air above.

"Andromeda," called an archaeobird. At this, Andromeda's gaze travelled upward and saw the group of archaeobirds and their bat-bird mounts holding all the fanny packs and both bags much to Milo's joy.

"We've got all of Carla's group's bags," cried the archaeobird.

"But we've got to get outa here, now," said another, a female, "Six predatory bat-birds have flown in and they're circling above us."

At this, Andromeda emitted a squeaky squawk to Milo who obeyed and hopped onto Rouge's back. Andromeda followed suit and after this, Rouge took off. The other archaeobirds and their bat-bird mounts followed with Kira and Aiden following, taking treasure-filled fanny packs and bags with them. Before they left, one of the archaeobirds called to Ilosovic and his group as they touched down next to Butch, covered in cuts and bruises from the skirmish and said, "You lot get outa here with that injured black cockatoo friend of yours before those bat-birds catch you but make sure that you STAY out. If you ever show your faces again, we will kill you."

Ilosovic only responded with a bitter glare as the archaeobird followed his comrades on his bat-bird mount. After the group had left, Drizella said flatly, "That went well."

"I think that fat Spix macaw and her group are REALLY in for it now," snarled Valack bitterly.

"Let's just get outa here," said Ilosovic when suddenly, a loud screech sent chills down his spine. At this, he looked up with his single eye and when it landed on some large creatures descending towards where they were stood, horror flooded through him. Elektra and Drizella and some of the magpies and ravens then emitted a shrill cry of terror while the others shuddered at the size of the creatures and their gleaming eyes. Ilosovic then called out, "Fly away, FLY AWAY!"

And with that, Ilosovic's gang was airborne in a matter of seconds, dozens of blurs of black, white, brown and grey. As Ilosovic rocketed off, Butch, wincing from the pain in his broken wing called out, "Hey, guys, what about me?"

However, Ilosovic, though he was in earshot, deliberately ignored him and continued flying after his gang moments before the group of giant predatory bat-birds descended through the gap in the trees towards Butch. Butch continued squawking loudly, begging for Ilosovic to come and pick him up but his squawks fell on deaf ears and also the ears of the predatory bat-birds as they touched down around him, their hunger-filled gleaming eyes fixated on the cockatoo. At this, Butch, who had no chance of escape now, released a frightening screech as one of the bat-birds lowered its head and made the killing blow, cutting off Butch's screech.

 **Later**

Carla and company had been returned to Talonclaw's clan's giant tree and placed in one of the medical chambers. The whole group was brutally shaken from the whole ordeal and weren't sure how long they were going to last. They just wanted to go home. As the group were placed into the hammocks and nest-beds in the medical chamber by the archaeobirds, Spock close to them with Talonclaw, Ophiuchus, Otulissa and Anakin looking on, Azul, whose feathers were on end from the aftershock, said, "You know something, folks? I think this is _definitely_ the last time we come here. It's been a total nightmare."

"Yeah, especially with all the close brushes with death that we've had," moaned Tiago.

"I couldn't agree more," said Jojo.

"You've said it," added Phoebe. Nearby, Ganymede and Mimas, whose wings were still interlinked, gazed at each other and smiled Bia and Virgil did the same. Then Estelle stood up, rage flaring in her eyes.

"Hey, where's that fish-eating seagull with the pirate's eye patch and his gang?" she snarled.

"Yeah, I wanna tear their feathers out!" added Sheldon bitterly.

"And give that Kira and Aiden a piece of my mind as well for betraying us and leaving us to die," put in Lavender.

"Forget it, you lot," said Justin as he and Carla sat in their bed nests, "They're already being dealt with."

"And besides that," said Matilda, "It's never a good idea to get your own back since trouble will come upon the avenger. Those gangsters are dangerous anyway."

The other macaws and Velocity nodded in agreement. Then their minds moved onto something else.

"Mind you, Milo was the one to call for help," said Carla gratefully, "I just hope he's alright since he and many of the archaeobirds have gone after the gangsters."

"We're gonna give him a huge reward for saving our lives," said Brooke. Then Oberon and Miranda turned and looked at Spock as he rested on his side, a clan treater checking his wound.

"How's your scratch, Spock?" asked Oberon.

"Painful," said Spock, wincing as the treater dabbed some wet moss onto the scabbed wound to help clean it of the dried blood, "But's it's alright. It'll heal in time."

Miranda then got a glimpse of the three gashes streaking across Spock's torso where Valack's claws made contact when the wicked barn owl scratched him and saw that they had indeed clotted over. However, the wounds looked pink-red, fresh and angry. Talonclaw came up to the two great green macaws and showed them the massive scars across his belly.

"When I was violently attacked by one of the predatory bat-birds during a hunting outing," he said, "These scars had been deep wounds from where the foot claws went in."

He then gazed at Spock's injury and said, "But the injury inflicted on my nephew by that horrid outsider doesn't look too serious, thankfully, so there is less chance of that scarring."

Then Miranda released a sigh. "I sure hope the search party has dealt with the gangsters and are returning with that treasure that we have worked ever so hard to reach and harvest."

"Our homes need it," said Oberon.

"I'm sure they will come back," said Spock with reassurance. Suddenly, a squeaky squawk sounded from outside, making Carla's group raise their heads. Talonclaw immediately rushed off for outside. Spock smiled.

"I think that's the signal," he said, "Sounds like the search party has returned."

Indeed it was, as the search party led by Andromeda riding on Rouge with Milo arrived, with Kira and Aiden close behind and the treasure-filled fanny packs and bags in tow, dozens of archaeobirds surrounded them and congratulated them. Talonclaw then ran over to meet Andromeda and gave her a congratulating hug while Milo petted Rouge, uttering a thank you to her. Otulissa and Ophiuchus then came to the archaeobirds that had the fanny packs and two bags and commanded them to take them to Carla and company in the medical chamber. The archaeobirds obeyed and went there. Milo, Kira and Aiden followed. Soon, the treasure-filled bags and fanny packs were back in the wings of their rightful owners, and Milo was reunited with his friends. He had been hailed as a hero by the others of Carla's group for saving their lives by bringing in a rescue party from Talonclaw's clan, and Carla's group all thanked the archaeobirds for bringing back the treasure. As for Kira and Aiden, they had been uneasily welcomed back by Carla and her group though they had been faced with some hostile reactions from them at first, especially Jojo towards Kira and Blueberry towards Aiden.

"We're sorry," said Kira apologetically when she was confronted by the angry glares from Carla and her group, "But you see, your lives were in danger at the clutches of that gang so we HAD to so something."

"However," added Aiden, "When we tried to stall Ilosovic and his gang long enough for Milo, who we sent away to get help, things did not go according to plan when they threatened to kill you, so we were forced to act."

The two macaws' eyes darted guiltily at the fanny packs and bags, and they began to break down and weep as they were overcome by deep regret for abandoning the group to their demise. Kira and Aiden then both fell on their fronts before Carla and company, tears falling from their eyes in cascades and sobs escaping uncontrollably from their throats. As the two macaws wept, Charon shot Carla a look.

"Should we allow those two to come with us?" he asked. Carla gazed at him.

"I don't know," she said in a low, stern voice, "But since they seemed to have contributed in helping us by sending Milo to get help, I'll say yes to that question but if it happens again, they will face serious consequences."

"Yes, let's give them a chance," said Ganymede, "They probably were stuck for what to do when they saw that our lives were in danger and had they not taken action, we would have been killed by those brutes."

"Yeah, but we would have lost our treasure as well," snapped Alessandro bitterly. Then Titan placed a wing each on Alessandro and Ganymede's shoulders.

"Please, let's forgive them, move on and take them home with us," he said, "They did; after all, defect to our side and help us get our treasure back in the end, and they are both part of two rare species of macaws."

The other macaws, Milo and Velocity then gazed at Kira and Aiden as the two continued sobbing hard. It seemed that forgiving them for abandoning the group to their near demise with the bat-birds was going to be very difficult indeed, but it will eventually come in time.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28- Blu and company run into trouble**

 **Meanwhile**

Blu and the others had found a cluster of trees to spend the night. They had gathered the supplies from Manaus and were now on their way to the Brazil/Guyana border, flying for hours until well after until stopping at this place and having dinner by eating some of the fruit or meat from their fanny packs. The supplies they had gathered were some fanny packs (like Carla's group), food (fruit for the macaws and the cockatoos, meat for Cometa, Lightning and Orion), a compass and a map. While the group of 59 birds settled into their stopover spot, Roberto and Brisa tucking in Charlotte, Felix, Jasmine, Annette, Phobos, Deimos, Europa, Callisto, and Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Indigo, Victor, Quincy, Flor, Juan, Aurelio and Wilbur in three hollows with Mercury, Sapphire, Venus, Zephyr and Mars and Chiquitita, Blu stood by looking at the map of Northern Brazil, a fanny pack around his waist.

"You know something, Blu," said Zephyr as he looked over his nephew Felix and daughter Charlotte, "I'm so glad you didn't mention bringing one of those GPS things along. It would have caused chaos."

"Not to mention a massive delay costing precious time," said Mars as he tucked in Phobos, Deimos, Callisto and Europa who had drifted off to sleep, "Which would have been disastrous if Carla's group was ever in danger."

Blu breathed a sigh in response to this, remembering how the one he took during his family, Rafael, Nico and Pedro's first trip to the Amazon had got them seriously lost.

"How far are we from the Guyanese border to Brazil, Blu?" asked Brisa. Blu checked the map.

"Well, Manaus is well behind us," he said, pointing a blue feather to the map, "We're about… half way to the border. And if my calculations are correct, we should arrive at the border about," he sunk into thought, "… I'd say about… around midday tomorrow if we set off by sunrise tomorrow morning. Maybe later, depending on the conditions..."

Nearby, Cometa and Sunset had tucked Orion, Eustace and Rosa to sleep in another hollow. Lightning and Travis looked on, the former eating a piece of pigeon he, Cometa and Orion had managed to hunt in Manaus. Lightning gazed at the pigeon he ate.

"When we get back to Rio with Velocity and the others safely by our side," muttered the male falcon, "I'm gonna start getting back into the natural way of hunting for prey."

"Orion and Velocity still haven't mastered the kill dive, anyway," said Cometa as she stood back and watched her son and the son and daughter of Travis and Sunset sleep. Next to the falcons and the cockatoos, Jupiter stood gazing northward, a worried look on his face as he thought about Carla and the others. Abigail and Murphy, the parents of Alessandro, also stood by, worried expressions plastering their faces. The other adult macaws had gone to bed but these three were too wracked with worry to get to sleep.

"Are you three alright?" asked Lightning.

"We're painfully worried about Carla's group," replied Jupiter, "Especially our missing son and daughter Ganymede and Io."

"And our only son Alessandro as well," said Murphy. The two chestnut-fronted macaws' eyes clearly were sick with worry and also outrage.

"I just can't believe that Carla and the others, especially our son Alessandro, just had the audacity to do this to us," growled Abigail bitterly, "When we find those chicks, they're gonna be facing some serious consequences."

"So will our other chicks," said Jupiter in a firm voice, his brown eyes gazing at Charlotte and the others as they slept in their hollows. Mercury, Sapphire, Roberto, Brisa, Venus and Zephyr had retreated to bed themselves. "For lying to us," finished Jupiter.

"They certainly have caused us a lot of worry, stress and anxiety," said Travis, shooting a concerned glance at Roberto, "Especially for him over there. Just as we were approaching the outskirts of Manaus, he freaked out and refused to enter the city. Some of us had to guide him over the city to the other side."

"It brought back a lot of terrible memories of my time as a pet, honestly," murmured Roberto, a stressed look on his face, "When that human girl badly abused me. I can't stand human cities and towns. They freak me out."

"We had to wait on the other side of the city while the rest of you searched for supplies," said Brisa, referring to herself, Roberto, Felix, Zephyr, Venus and Charlotte who had done just that during the Manaus stage, "Honestly, it sent shivers down Roberto and my spines."

"We had thoughts of Jojo and Lavender getting caught by poachers and taken to be sold as pets to abusive humans like how I was," murmured Roberto with a shudder. He then breathed a sigh and brushed his head feathers to flatten them. "I'm not gonna sleep easy tonight or any other night until we find Carla's group."

"Especially Carla, Bia and Tiago," said Zephyr, "Jewel has been seriously worried about them, causing her irritability and short-temperedness."

"I'm not surprised," said Sapphire with a frown as she and Mercury were about to enter a hollow, "Her and Blu's _entire_ first brood is out there."

"Not to mention two of Roberto and Brisa's chicks, three of our own chicks," said Venus, "And half of Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's brood. Those two have been wracked with worry about Charon and Blueberry as well, and have had thoughts of them getting caught by poachers like how Flor was."

Mercury, however, wore a more positive look on his face.

"I'm pretty sure they're smart enough to look out for each other," he said, "After all, they're approaching adolescence."

"But Mercury," snapped Sapphire, "They're all still so young with little or no experience in dealing with unknown territory and Triton's barely an equivalent to a young human kid despite being the same age as our three daughters, Jasmine, Annette and Phoebe who is still out there as well," she stole a glance northward and gazed back at Mercury. "I seriously worry for that lot, you know," she continued, her voice beginning to splinter as she felt on edge, "Especially for our daughter and the Spix and glaucous macaws."

"Those three are very rare macaw species and the gold nuggets of the macaw world worth a lot of money," said Cometa, "And are so often sought after by poachers. During my time as one of Lysandre's falcons, any Spix macaw, Lear's macaw or glaucous macaw that was captured and successfully sold brought in hundreds of Brazilian reals or American dollars."

"That's right," said Sapphire in agreement, her glare on Mercury, "And almost _half_ of the missing birds are of those three rare species, including our daughter Phoebe."

She hardened her gaze on her mate. "Seriously, dear, I CANNOT stand the thought of any of them, least of all our missing daughter, Blu and Jewel's first-brood chicks, Roberto and Brisa's son and daughter, three of Zephyr and Venus's chicks, or Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's son and daughter and Michelle's niece, especially those latter three, getting captured by poachers."

"And we're very easy targets indeed," said Venus. She shuddered at the horrible memories of herself and Mercury being captured by smugglers as chicks. Then Zephyr came in and said, "Let's just go to bed."

Mercury, Sapphire, Roberto, Brisa and Venus all nodded in agreement. And with that, the group entered a hollow. Abigail, Jupiter and Murphy also retreated to bed, albeit reluctantly. Then Travis, Sunset and Lightning followed, and then finally Cometa. Before entering a hollow with Lightning, she gazed at Blu.

"You coming, Blu?" she asked. Blu looked at her. "Your mate's waiting."

"I'll join Jewel in a minute, Cometa," said Blu and with that he continued looking at the map. Cometa then entered the hollow with Lightning, leaving Blu alone to continue marking the map of where they need to go as the partly starry sky continued looking down on him and the Brazilian landscape.

 **Morning**

Carla and the others with her had spent the night at Andromeda's clan's place and when morning came, they had breakfast and enjoyed their final moments with their new archaeobird friends. After this, the group put their fanny packs filled with treasure around their waists and had the two treasure-filled bags ready to carry and prepared to depart. After saying goodbye to their friends including Talonclaw and Otulissa, thanking them for their help and everything, and that some archaeobirds had packed Carla and her group some food into a sturdy stick and vine bag for their return journey to Brazil, Carla and company were ready to go. Their flight to the Great Rocky Wall was smooth, and they had Andromeda, Anakin, Ophiuchus, Spock (who had recovered from his scratch) and some other archaeobirds riding on their bat-bird mounts escort them to the cliff enclosing the Jurassic Jungle as Carla and company had called it because of most of its fauna being animals that should have gone extinct. Then as soon as they had reached the Great Rocky Wall, Carla and the others bid Andromeda and her two brothers, cousin and their friends farewell and then left, but it had been an emotional goodbye. After Carla and company were out of earshot and sight, far into the surrounding Guyanese environment, Andromeda and her group left to return to their clan's tree but Andromeda gazed back in the direction of Carla and her group as they continued receding into the distance.

At the same time, Blu and company had woken from an uneasy night's sleep, had breakfast and were off once again, heading straight for the Guyanese border. Blu and Jewel led the way, Blu carrying the compass, making sure that they were on track and going in the right direction. They continued flying towards the Guyanese border and hours later, two hours after midday and having lunch; they crossed over the border and were out of Brazil, finally in Guyana. Now this was where the real work began. How were Blu's group going to find Carla's group in well over 200,000 square miles of area that was Guyana?

 **After midday**

Carla and company continued flying with their two bags and fanny packs full of treasure, ecstatic looks on their faces. They were heading south for the Guyanese/Brazilian border, hoping to reach Manaus where they might catch a plane to Rio to meet Tulio and his team with their harvested treasure. However, they had stopped to have lunch before continuing. Carla, Bia and Tiago flew at the front with Jojo, Lavender, Justin, Matilda, Kira and Virgil to their left and behind, Phoebe, Azul, Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry, Aiden and Alessandro to their right in a V-formation like before, and Io, Ganymede, Sheldon, Alexandre, Estelle, Brooke, Titan, Mimas, Miranda, Oberon, Triton, Velocity and Milo in another group, also in a V-shape with Ganymede at the front. The treasure-filled bags and fanny packs worn by all but Aiden and Kira were quite heavy and Carla's group had hoped to have enough stamina to make it past the border to Brazil before having to stop and rest. As they flew along, Kira, who helped carry one of the bags, said, "I'm so glad Ilosovic and his gang have gone for good."

"I sure hope they have," muttered Matilda, "They caused us no end of trouble since they met us."

"We're really sorry to have been downright brats during our first hours with you," said Aiden, "But spending time with you and going on that journey to that treasure cave really has changed us."

"You were right all along about those gangsters," said Kira, "They never cared for us at all, like how you lot do."

"Well, we would like to thank you two as well for helping to get these fanny packs and bags back," said Carla. "Look, let's just focus on getting to the Guyana/Brazil border, okay?"

"Yeah, these nuggets of gold and gems are quite heavy," said Tiago as he struggled somewhat to fly with his fanny pack. Kira and Aiden nodded and continued flying with the others. As the group flew along, Velocity looked up and saw a large grey cloud growing in size.

"Looks like rain," she murmured.

"I hope it's not a violent storm like the one that we encountered," murmured Brooke warily, "Because you remember during that one."

"It is extremely dangerous to fly through a storm with heavy rain, high winds and lightning," said Kira, "Especially at night," she shuddered as she remembered that night, "After that ordeal, I had not slept well the following night."

"We were in a rush to get away from those gangsters," said Carla, "But in our desperation we didn't realise the storm would be this bad." She then breathed a guilty sigh, "It was my fault for forcing you guys to fly through it. Some of us could have been badly injured or even killed…"

"Well, it's over now," said Justin with a perky smile, "Let's just focus on getting this treasure to Tulio and his team and save our home."

The others nodded in agreement. However, since the night of the severe storm, they had been better prepared for an impending storm than last time, and were more alert of any heavy rain. Should that start to fall, that was the signal the group needed to stop flying and seek shelter. The growing cloud ahead was indeed a storm cloud and some of the members of the group thought they heard a rumble of thunder growl from it. However, the group continued flying on. They wanted to get as close to the Guyana/Brazil border as possible before the storm overtook them.

 **Meanwhile**

Ilosovic, together with his gang, were also flying south. They wanted to get away from the Jurassic Jungle as fast as possible. However, the gang was missing some members. Butch had been left behind because of his broken wing and was subsequently eaten by some predatory bat-birds, and on the group's way to the Great Rocky Wall last night, the group had been attacked by another pair of predatory bat-birds which managed to snatch two of the magpies and brutally injure Drax. The rest got away with a few cuts and bruises but had left Drax to his fate on the Great Rocky Wall where he likely bled to death. Now there were only seven main birds including Ilosovic and the other magpies and ravens. As the group continued flying along, Morgana noticed a gloomy grey blob up ahead.

"Looks like a storm's brewing," she said. Ilosovic glared bitterly at the growing storm cloud with his single eye.

"So there will be for that fat Spix macaw and her bunch of brats," he growled, "And also for Aiden and Kira for turning against us to join those scrawny birds."

"So how are we gonna meet them?" asked Gaston. He then licked his beak and added, "I wanna turn one of those macaws into dinner, and it doesn't matter which one." He growled the last sentence with malice as he thought of Kira and Aiden in addition to Carla and the other macaws.

"We'll execute that plan when we come to it, Gaston," said Ilosovic, "Let's just focus on getting outa here first."

The other gangsters nodded in agreement and continued flying on. A while later, one of the magpies called the other remaining gangsters' attention.

"Guys, look," it called, "Isn't that the group we are looking for?"

At this, Ilosovic, Morgana, Gaston, Elektra, Valack, Jafar, Drizella and the other magpies and ravens followed the first magpie's gaze and spotted a colourful cloud coming towards them. At this, Elektra and Jafar the falcons, whose eyesight surpassed the others, squinted at the cloud as the gangster group slowed to a hover.

"What do you see, you two?" asked Ilosovic. Elektra gazed at the colourful cloud some more and began to deduce what species were present.

"Hmm, it's a flock of macaws, but it's much larger than that fat Spix macaw and her group with more of them," she said. "Wait…"

The other gangsters focussed their ears on the falcon as she saw something else in the colourful cloud.

"There are two grey falcons and one brown one, which I believe must be peregrine falcons…" said Elektra.

"And also what appears to be a yellow crested cockatoo, a pink cockatoo with a red and yellow banded crest…" said Jafar, "And two more cockatoos with similar features…"

Ilosovic and the others gazed at the orange-breasted and barred-breasted falcons in surprise.

"There are three peregrine falcons and four cockatoos with those macaws?" asked Gaston.

"Wait…" said Jafar, "I see some Spix macaws… one of them is blue with brown eyes, a stocky build, male, a ruffle around its neck while another is cerulean with turquoise eyes, a slender build, female…"

Ilosovic and the others exchanged glances.

"Sounds like those two macaws could be related to that fat Spix macaw with the green eyes and the two scrawny Spix macaws with the brown eyes," said Valack.

"The other Spix macaws appear to be…" continued Jafar, "A female with sky blue feathers and a pair of pigtails, amber eyes, slender build; another male with blue feathers, whitish head, green eyes, stocky build, another female with green eyes, cerulean feathers and white head, similar crest to the green-eyed male, another male with a mop of head feathers, blue eyes, stocky build, and… wait there are two more Spix macaws both smaller, a male with teal-looking feathers and a strange set of head feathers which appeared to be three-layered, and another, a female with cerulean feathers and a crest similar to the larger green-eyed female…"

"There are also some scarlet macaws, green-winged macaws, blue-and-gold macaws, blue-throated macaws…" added Elektra. Then she felt deduction about the flock of birds ahead of them and shot Ilosovic and the others a look.

"I believe they could be friends of that fat Spix macaw and her gang?" she asked. Ilosovic and the others, at this, gazed back at the two falcons in surprise. But then a sadistic and bloodthirsty grin crept into Ilosovic's beak.

"Well, if that is true," crooned the frigatebird evilly, "Then let's go and meet 'em. Maybe targeting them will teach that fat Spix macaw and her group something."

"But Ilosovic," said Jafar, "That group is around twice the size of that fat Spix macaw's group. They could be…"

"I know how to cover that, Jafar," crooned Ilosovic evilly. He then called together his gang and began to discuss his plan with them.

"Here's what we're gonna do…" he began. Meanwhile, Blu and company continued flying over the Guyanese landscape. Their eyes were wide with alertness, despite some of them being tired due to lack of sleep last night, but there was something else in their eyes besides looking out for any flash of colour in the distance or against the green sea of trees below. On one side of the group, Ceres shuddered at the storm cloud that grew in the distance. Cobalto, Wilbur and Aurelio flew alongside her.

"I sure hope we find Carla and the others soon," she murmured, "There's a storm brewing."

"Sounds like thunder," said Wilbur timidly when he heard growling noises from the cloud. Aurelio also flinched when he saw a flash of light from some of the lobes of the darkening grey cloud.

"Look, just stay focussed on looking for your brother and the others okay?" growled Cobalto. Aurelio and Wilbur flinched at the harshness of their father's voice. It was clear that their parents were still mad with them and will likely be so until Carla and her group were found. As Lightning, Cometa and Orion flew alongside Dani and Ramon, the parents of Sheldon, Ramon said, "So you believe your daughter's left on this silly trip with Carla and the others with one of your cockatoo friend's sons, am I right?"

"Yes," said Cometa firmly, "Velocity disappeared that morning and left us a message."

"It didn't half send us crazy, honestly," said Lightning, "We looked everywhere for her in Rio. Also on that morning, we found that Travis, Sunset, Eustace and Rosa were missing Milo, the name of the other son of Sunset and Travis."

"Have you ever felt panic when Sheldon sometimes went missing?" asked Orion.

"Each time," said Ramon, "But this time is no different. When we heard that Sheldon had left with Carla and the others to go to Guyana, we had been utterly outraged."

Dani shot Callisto, Europa, Phobos and Deimos a glare as the four flew alongside Jupiter, Ruby, Mars and Chiquitita, ashamed looks still on their faces and said, "Especially at those four and the other liars for allowing those missing macaws to leave without our permission."

"Especially on a trip to something that doesn't exist," said Ramon angrily. Phobos only shot the scarlet macaw and his green-winged macaw mate an ashamed look and continued flying on. Then Ramon turned to Blu and Jewel at the front and asked, "Do you see anything, you two?"

Cometa, Dani, Orion and Lightning looked on hopefully.

"No," replied Blu, "All I see is just the Guyanese landscape."

"Don't tell me Carla and the others have got lost, have they?" growled Ramon bitterly. He was approaching the end of his tether and the exhaustion, worry, stress and anxiety was getting to him. It was also starting to consume the other adults as well, and even Charlotte, Felix and the other chicks were worried. Might they be too late? Could Carla and the others have been injured, caught, or worse? While these possibilities boiled over in the group's minds, Jewel spotted something up ahead.

"Hey, guys, look over there," she called. At this, the others looked at her.

"What is it, Ju-Ju?" asked Roberto, Brisa and Felix flying alongside him. Then Saturn, who flew with Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus, followed Jewel's gaze until his beige eyes landed on some small forms in the distance.

"Looks like a group of birds," he said, "I wonder if they would be able to help us find Carla and the others."

"If they've seen them," said Orquidea with narrowed eyes. Enceladus and his four siblings just said nothing.

"Well, what are we waiting for," said Uranus as he flew with Esmeralda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania, "Let's go ask them."

"Great idea," said Blu. He shot his mate a grateful smile. "Well spotted Jewel. Let's go and ask that group of birds over there."

Jewel, for the first time since setting off on the trip, smiled and with that, the group of macaws, falcons and cockatoos accelerated their flight towards the approaching group of birds. However, they were unaware that they were flying right towards a dangerous gang of birds. As Blu's group approached the other group in the distance, Blu slowed the group into a hover and prepared to ask the said group about Carla and company. However, a dreaded feeling came over Cometa and Lightning, especially when they gazed at the black bird at the front. Orion was especially frightened and began to cower behind his parents.

"Um, Blu…" murmured Cometa uncertainly.

"Excuse me," called Blu to the group of birds hovering before them, the rest of his group members wearing hopeful looks on their faces, "Have you seen…"

Then suddenly, Cometa's dread feeling took control and she began to protest to Blu.

"Blu, I think that group of birds is…" she began and flew at the brown-eyed Spix macaw. Too late. A scornful voice emitted from the black bird in the front of the group which Blu identified as a frigatebird with a patch over his left eye.

"Oh, we know who you lot are looking for alright," crooned the frigatebird evilly. As he said this, a flock of ravens and magpies hovered up, numerous loops of some sort of string in their wings while the remaining birds, a barn owl, a barred-breasted falcon, an orange-breasted falcon, a black eagle, black caracara and a horned owl, all wearing evil looks on their faces, flew around Blu's group to corral them towards the frigatebird and the corvids. When a look of horror came over Blu and company's faces, the frigatebird grinned. "Looks like you lot are fit to be tied," crooned the wicked seabird evilly. At this, horror exploded within Blu and Jewel and the rest. Orion hid behind Cometa and Lightning, Felix and Charlotte hid behind Roberto (whose head feathers were spiked out), Brisa, Zephyr and Venus, Jasmine and Annette clutched Mercury and Sapphire, Phobos, Deimos, Callisto and Europa hid behind a dumbfounded Ruby, Jupiter, Mars and Chiquitita, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus huddled against Orquidea while Saturn defensively flew to the front, Uranus and Esmeralda took up defensive poses as well while Ariel, Umbriel and Titania huddled together, frightened, and Neptune and Ultramarine defensively flew in front of Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Quincy, Flor and Indigo, Victor (who had taken his hat off ready to throw), Bruna and Pedro, Michelle and Juan the latter two huddled together, and Ceres, Cobalto, Wilbur and Aurelio also huddled together but Cobalto prepared for action. Ramon, Dani, Murphy and Abigail, together with Travis, Sunset, Eustace and Rosa also huddled together, one question repeating in their minds. 'Who are those birds!?'

At the front, Blu and Jewel, also dumbfounded, also prepared for action to protect their friends while the frigatebird, Ilosovic, nodded to his gang members and gave the shout.

 **Later**

Carla and company continued flying over the Guyanese landscape, the storm cloud continuously growing in size. It was getting dark, not from night drawing in but from the overcast, and rain was inevitable.

"We'd better think about seeking shelter, Carla," said Bia, aware of the brewing storm, "It's gonna rain soon."

"And our wings are getting tired," murmured Tiago as his wing muscles complained of aching.

"Yeah, I agree," moaned Matilda tiredly, "We're in desperate need for a rest."

"Energy levels dropping," moaned Charon as he flew close to Carla, "Must stop and rest."

"Is everyone here?" asked Carla, green eyes scanning her group. "There should be twenty-nine of us."

"Er… there is only 28 of us, Carla," said Kira as she helped to carry one of the bags.

"Then who's behind?" asked Justin. The question was answered as Milo wearily caught up with the group and slowed to a hover. His face was plastered with tiredness and his crest was flat against his head.

"Huh, the sooner this is over, the better," muttered Io disgruntledly, her temper beginning to boil from tiredness, "You won't believe what we've BEEN through!"

Just then, Oberon thought he heard something.

"What's that noise?" he asked.

"Not now, Oberon," said Carla and with that the group continued flying on.

"It's probably thunder rumbling in that cloud," said Virgil.

"The storm is growing ever closer, anyway," said Matilda. Oberon shot the two a suspicious frown.

"Can thunder sound like distressed squawks?" he asked. This stopped Carla and the others dead. Their eyes fixed upon the great green macaw with dreaded eyes, silence hovering over them. However, Kira just put it off.

"It's probably just some bird trying to escape a predator," she said, "You know what prey is like when it is chased by an animal wanting to eat them."

However, Oberon was unconvinced. Something inside him was telling him that these distressed squawks sounded familiar, but he struggled to pinpoint the reason why.

"You look pale," said Velocity, concerned for the look on his face.

"Are you becoming unwell?" asked Bia. Still Oberon refused to answer as he continued trying to figure why the squawks sounded familiar. Then what happened next sent his body into immense overdrive. Without warning, Oberon let loose an alarmed squawk and rocketed off, a green, yellow, blue and red comet with a smudge of brown from his fanny pack filled with gems and gold nuggets.

"Oberon, what is it?" asked Carla as she and the others gave chase, "OBERON!"

"It's MR BLU, MRS JEWEL AND MANY OF THE OTHERS!" barked Oberon in horror, "SOUNDS LIKE THEY'RE IN DIRE STRAITS!"

At first, Carla and the others were struck with disbelief.

"But that can't be," cried Io incredulously, "Those guys are back in Brazil."

However, horror soon snapped within Carla, Bia and Tiago when they heard a female shout in the distance. Driven by the fuel of worry, the three macaw siblings rocketed off after Oberon. The others followed, the bag carriers struggling to carry the treasure filled bags.

"Hey, guys," shouted Aiden as he struggled with one of the bags with Azul, Phoebe, Estelle and Alexandre, "How fast are you… WAIT FOR US!"

And with that the bag carriers began to flap their wings faster to increase their speed to try and catch up with the others as they rocketed on ahead, following the distressed cries of some macaws.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29- the last stand against Ilosovic and his gang**

Carla and the others continued flying as fast as they could despite the weight of the treasure in their fanny packs and the two bags slowing them down. Now that they were approaching the source of the distressed cries, recognition had finally taken hold. Carla, Bia and Tiago had recognised their parents Blu and Jewel's voices as well as some of the other voices of the others that might be with them, among them Roberto and Venus. However, this had increased the weight of dread inside the macaws for they had deduced that Blu and Jewel weren't alone. In the sky above, thunder rumbled and rain was imminent.

"Don't tell me that Uncle Blu and Aunt Jewel have someone else with them, do they?" cried Io feistily.

"Well I can recognise Mom and Dad's voices," cried Jojo, "So it would seem so!"

"That would be Uncle Roberto and Aunt Brisa," said Ganymede.

"I could also hear Aunt Venus and Uncle Zephyr's voices as well," shouted Bia. At this, Justin, Matilda and Virgil felt a horrible feeling bloom within them as well.

"Uncle Blu and Aunt Jewel are DEFINITELY not alone then," said Justin.

"Just shut up and track the distressed voices!" bellowed Carla impatiently.

"Alright, alright, Mrs Bossy," snapped Justin angrily. The group continued flying on, the bag carriers struggling to keep up. As the distressed voices grew louder, another different sound sent chills down Carla and company's spines.

"I know that horrible laugh," shouted Virgil.

"Mom, Dad!" cried Carla. The others also shouted their parents as they continued tracking the source of the sounds. Then a few minutes later, Carla and company finally reached the source but what they saw next turned their blood into freezing water.

"Hello, Fatso Spix macaw and company," crooned a familiar voice. At this, Carla and the others stopped into a hover (the bag carriers finally having caught up, breathless from flying so fast) and spotted the speaker, which was a frigatebird with a patch over his eyes. The moment Carla and company's eyes landed on him, hot rage burned through them.

"YOU!" snarled Carla, her feathers bristled and eyes green flames, "YOU HAVEN'T GIVEN UP YET!?"

Then Bia and Tiago's eyes landed on something behind Ilosovic. They were familiar forms, all tied tightly to the trunk of the trees, and there were a lot of these tied up birds. At this, Bia and Tiago shot forward towards two specific Spix macaws.

"Mom, Dad!" cried Bia and Tiago together.

"Bia, Tiago," cried Blu and Jewel in shock. Suddenly, a line of black and white birds appeared and came in between Bia and Tiago, making them stop dead.

"You come any close to these victims, brats and we'll slaughter them," growled one of the magpies. At this, Bia and Tiago, horrified, backed away. Then the other birds of Carla's group recognised the other forms.

"Mom, Dad, Charlotte!" cried Justin, Matilda and Virgil together when they spotted Zephyr, Venus and Charlotte, eyes filled with immense fear, tied next to Blu and Jewel. The three macaws gazed at the trio and felt disbelief come over them.

"Mom, Dad, Jasmine, Annette!" cried Phoebe when she saw her sisters, Mercury and Sapphire.

"Mom, Dad, Felix!" cried Jojo and Lavender at the same time when they saw Roberto, Felix and Brisa. Io and Ganymede also saw Jupiter, Ruby, Europa and Callisto, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon saw Phobos, Deimos, Chiquitita, Mars, Dani and Ramon; Titan, Mimas and Brooke saw Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus; Miranda and Oberon saw Esmeralda, Uranus, Titania, Ariel and Umbriel; Azul saw Ceres, Cobalto, Aurelio and Wilbur; Charon, Blueberry and Neytiri saw Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Quincy, Flor, Michelle and Juan; Triton saw Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Victor and Pedro and Bruna; Alessandro saw his parents Murphy and Abigail; Velocity saw Lightning, Cometa and her brother Orion and Milo saw Travis, Sunset, Eustace and Rosa. When Cometa and Travis saw Velocity and Milo, they cried out their names. Kira and Aiden looked on, confused, but also outraged at Ilosovic and his gang. Then Carla and her group saw something else: Ilosovic's gang members, Morgana, Drizella, Valack, Jafar, Gaston and Eletkra and many of the ravens had their families at talon-point, Gaston hovering a talon over Pluto and his family and Valack with a talon over Blu and Jewel, both poised in a killing position.

Ilosovic grinned as he saw the horrified looks on Carla and company's faces.

"Yup, it seems that we just so happen to come across your beloved families and friends and have tied them up," crooned the frigatebird evilly, "Now you are faced with a choice. Either submit to us or these birds DIE!"

Thunder rumbled in the air as he said this and cackled, much to the horror of Blu and company as they struggled in their restraints. Blu then shot Carla, Bia and Tiago a furious look.

"Just WHAT IS THE BIG IDEA OF ALL THIS, KIDS!?" he bellowed.

"Shut up, blue feathers," snarled Valack, his claws hovering precariously close to Blu's neck. Blu, at this, made frightened whimpers while Jewel glared at the barn owl bitterly.

"Do you lot have any idea of what trouble you've brought us in?" asked Jupiter, flinching as one of the ravens held its talon close to his head. Ruby, Europa and Callisto just said nothing for they were too afraid to speak. Then Carla and the others lowered onto a branch and perched on it. The bag carriers placed their treasure filled bags into a hollow out of the sight of Ilosovic and his group, not wanting the gangsters to nick them again.

"Look, as we've said before, Ilosovic," snarled the green-eyed Spix macaw with a chubby build, "We're NOT gonna join your gang, full stop!"

"But it seems that YOU lot's ears are plugged," snarled Io furiously, "This is the third time we had to tell you."

But the evil grin never left Ilosovic's face. While Carla and the others were occupied, Kira and Aiden, having found a sharp rock shard each on the forest floor, began to quietly creep towards Blu and the others. However, it was not going to be easy for there were magpies and ravens everywhere. Above the whole group, the storm cloud continued to growl angrily with thunder. One or two drops of rain then fell, indicating that the storm cloud was ready to release its reservoir of rainwater, and Carla and the others were made well aware of this.

"Then you leave us no choice," crooned Ilosovic wickedly, "You might as well become orphans, like how Kira and Aiden were made orphans by those poachers."

At this, Blu and Jewel shook their heads in confusion.

"Who are Kira and Aiden?" asked Jewel but she immediately shut her beak when Valack threatened to claw her face.

"It's none of your business, Spix macaw," growled Ilosovic at Jewel. The teal-eyed Spix macaw glared back at him bitterly. Ilosovic then turned and faced Carla and company once again. All 27 birds wore furious looks on their faces as they gazed at the gangster group but they were also worried for their families who were helplessly tied to the trees.

"Well, if you intend to go down that route," snarled Carla angrily, "Then we'll FIGHT you."

Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender then stepped forward and flared their talon claws. Then Io, Ganymede, Alexandre, Estelle, Sheldon, and Titan, Mimas and Brooke, Oberon, Miranda, Phoebe, Azul, Alessandro, Triton, Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry, Milo and Velocity all came forward, thunderous looks smearing their faces, their feathers raised, and their fanny packs removed and hidden away safely in a hidden hollow. While Carla's group prepared to face off against Ilosovic's, Kira and Aiden crept towards one of the trees to which some of Blu's group was tied, going first for Ceres, Cobalto, Wilbur and Aurelio. When the four blue-throated macaws saw the two, Kira raised a wing feather to her mouth and gestured to them to be quiet while the two advanced forward and began to apply the two rock shards to the string binding them.

"We're on your side," whispered Aiden. However, Ceres, her mate and two of her sons were too dumbfounded to reply. Then Gaston left Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Quincy, Flor, Michelle and Juan to some ravens and stepped over to Ilosovic's side. Blu, Jewel and the others gazed at Carla's group and saw what they were going to do. Jupiter tried to protest against them fighting the gangsters but could not under the threat of having his throat slit by one of the ravens, and one of them held its talon close to his throat. Europa, Ruby and Callisto looked on in utter, speechless horror.

"Well, of you wanna risk your lives and fight for your families, you bunch of useless birds," snarled Gaston angrily, "Then so be it."

Then Velocity bravely came forward and lighted down before the hulking black eagle. Ilosovic looked on evilly, the desire to see blood boiling immensely inside him.

"Look, if anyone is gonna claw that arrogant, boastful look off that face of yours, then so be it," snarled the peregrine falcon viciously, her talons flared and prepared for action. "I take your challenge FIRST!"

"Bring it on, runty falcon!" sneered Gaston evilly and with that, the black eagle and the peregrine falcon began to circle. Blu and Carla's groups looked on in horror, especially Lightning, Orion and Cometa.

"She's not gonna stand a chance against that eagle," whispered Cometa to Lightning.

"Look how small she is compared to him," said Lightning in a hushed voice, his bulbous eyes flooded with fear examining the muscular build of Gaston and the lean, lithe body shape of Velocity, "She's gonna be KO'd without a doubt."

Kira and Aiden, at this, flashed a glance at Velocity and Gaston as they continued to circle, hisses emitting through their beaks and eyes glaring daggers like laser beams. Kira then managed to snap some of the strings binding Ceres and began to help her get free while Aiden sought to Cobalto, Wilbur and Aurelio, wary of the gangsters whose eyes were fixed on the impending fight. Carla and company looked on, nervous and fearful for Velocity's safety. However, one of the Spix macaws had sneaked away. Lavender had disappeared behind a tree and was hiding in a cluster of branches and leaves, eyes fixated on Gaston, ready to strike.

"You know something, falcon," sneered Gaston as he continued circling with Velocity, "You sure have an attitude problem. I always thought you'd make a great member of our group."

Velocity did not answer but then she saw a flash of pale purple-blue hidden among a ball of leaves. Lavender winked at her while Velocity continued circling with Gaston, carefully pretending that she hadn't noticed anything.

"But you seemed to have thrown away that opportunity," growled Gaston in an increasingly threatening voice tone, "Now it's time to face our wrath!"

Around the pair, rain had increased to a trickle and thunder sounded overhead. Blu, Jewel and the others watched on in horror as the hulking eagle then crouched into a pouncing position, poised to leap onto Velocity and brutally claw her to pieces. However, he was unaware that a second bird was ready to jump at him from behind from a cluster of leaves. As soon as Velocity was facing Lavender's hiding spot again with Gaston's back to it, a pale blue-purple blur leaped explosively out from the cluster of leaves and with an enraged screech, landed right onto Gaston's back! Blu, Jewel and the others, and Ilosovic and his gang, drew in shocked and horrified gasps as Lavender then began to mercilessly score her claws down Gaston's back with all her strength. The black eagle unleashed agonised screeches but then a brown and sandy ivory form was on top of him. While Velocity and Lavender savagely attacked Gaston, Carla screeched, "NOOOOWWW!"

And with that, Carla's group all charged at Ilosovic's gang, releasing battle cries. In response, the magpies, ravens and some of Ilosovic's gang members leaped at Carla's group, also releasing battle cries. As the two groups collided and a fight broke out, Valack was about to jump into the inferno when a talon snagged him on the back of the neck.

"You're goin' NOWHERE, you overgrown owl," snarled Jewel meanly and with that, she turned Valack around and head-butted him square in the face while Blu landed the knockout blow with his beak. Valack, dazed, spun and fainted.

"Brilliant move, you two," said Zephyr smugly. Then Blu and Jewel began to work on getting themselves free. However, a blue and azure blue blur came in, both armed with a rock shard each.

"Don't be alarmed," said one of them named Kira, "We're on your side."

And with that, she slashed the ropes binding Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Charlotte, Roberto, Brisa and Felix with the rock shard and freed them.

Back in the main inferno, Carla and company fought viciously against Ilosovic's gangster group. Bia and Tiago were landing kicks and wing swipes on some ravens and magpies while Jojo, Virgil, Matilda, Justin, Neytiri, Charon and Blueberry clawed more across the faces. Magpies and ravens, their faces marked by scratches, all fainted, stunned.

"That's what you GET for messing with us, you pests!" snarled Jojo and with that, he kicked another raven right in the guts, knocking it back. Suddenly, a magpie jumped onto his back and began to throttle him. When Neytiri saw this, she leaped into the air, clamped her beak onto the magpie's tail and yanked her off of Jojo. Then Neytiri swung the magpie around and around and then released the magpie's tail. The magpie was sent flying, screaming in terror until he crashed square into Jafar.

"I didn't know you could do that," said Charon.

"Look OUT!" cried Neytiri. At this Charon and Blueberry looked up and when they saw another raven armed with a stick, alarm tore through them. The raven raised the stick and prepared to bring it down onto Charon and Blueberry but two green forms with yellow and blue wings appeared and grabbed onto the stick. The raven, taken by surprise then began to viciously wrestle the stick with Oberon and Miranda. The brother and sister green macaws continued pulling and pulling until they finally both let it go, sending the stick's end swinging at the raven's head and banging him there. The raven, stunned by this unexpected tactic, saw stars strewn in his vision but then a hard strike hit him in the back of the head. The raven then collapsed, Blueberry, having delivered the blow with a talon clenched into a fist, smiling smugly. Somewhere else, Estelle, Ganymede, Io, Sheldon and Alexandre, armed with a vine, flew in at more magpies led by Drizella as they fought Titan, Mimas and Brooke and began to bind them. The three blue-and-gold macaws forced Drizella and the magpies back while the five red macaws set to tying them up with the vines. When Drizella saw this, a tantrum began to flare within her and she began to screech and cry.

"Oh, do shut up," snarled Brooke and with that, she slapped Drizella across the head and knocked her out. As soon as the red macaws had tied up Drizella's group, Io and Ganymede then lurched forward and tackled the bound group of horned owl and magpies and knocked them off the branch, sending them tumbling towards the forest floor. This done the red and blue-and-gold macaws hi-fived each other.

Nearby, Triton was being chased by Morgana. The caracara had lost her temper and was determined to claw the young hyacinth macaw chick the moment she caught hold of him.

"C'mere you little blue-feathered PEST!" bellowed Morgana but Triton, when he found himself face to face with a brown wall of tree trunk, immediately darted to the side, sending Morgana crashing hard into it. Morgana staggered back, stars flying around her head. However, she shook herself to and eyed Triton, who backed away, eyes wide with fright.

"I'm gonna turn you into dinner, hyacinth brat," snarled the caracara and with that, she rose a talon and prepared to plunge it into Triton to kill him when suddenly, agony tore through her back. The caracara screeched and rocketed into the air, Azul and Phoebe, who had raked their talons down Morgana's back, gazing at her as she shot up. As Morgana crashed back down, Azul and Phoebe, together with Triton, jumped onto her and began tearing out her feathers. Nearby, Gaston continued struggling to dislodge Lavender and Velocity as they continued brutally clawing him.

"Get off of me you two good-for-nothing pests!" snarled the black eagle and with that, he latched his wings onto Lavender and yanked her off his back, before powerfully tossing her against a tree trunk. Lavender slammed into the trunk, a stunned look on her face. Then Gaston, after managing to dislodge Velocity by flinging her off of him, charged towards the pale blue-purple Spix macaw.

"I'm gonna impale ya with my claws," bellowed the black eagle and with that, he raised a talon and prepared to ram it claws into Lavender but the Spix macaw jumped up, sending Gaston's talon claws jamming into the wood of the branch, jumped onto Gaston's head and clawed him across the face.

"If I could take on a giant bat-bird, you brute," snarled Lavender as she did it, "I can take on YOU TOO!"

And with that, she began to deliver a series of brutal slashes over Gaston's face. Agonised screeches exploded from the eagle's beak as the Spix macaw viciously tore her claws over his face. Then Velocity, together with Milo and Alessandro rushed in and joined in the fray. With four pairs of talons and four beaks mercilessly scratching and biting him, Gaston had no hope despite his strength. While Lavender, Velocity, Milo and Alessandro fought Gaston, Neytiri, while she fought two magpies, heard a loud screech. At this, she snapped round and saw two blue and grey blurs shoot towards her.

"Aunt Michelle, Juan!" cried Neytiri and soon, she was swept up in two pairs of wings.

"I'm sorry for leaving you," cried Neytiri as she returned the hug with Michelle, "You can ground me if you want!"

"Not at the moment, I'm just glad you're safe," cried Michelle. Then Juan began to bombard his cousin with a barrage of questions.

"Did you find it?" he asked, "What did you encounter there? What…"

"Hey, hey, HEY!" shouted Neytiri, cutting Juan off. "We've found it, okay, the myth IS real!"

"Oh, please stop yapping on about this…" began Michelle when suddenly, the three found themselves surrounded by magpies, all poised to attack.

"We'll talk later," replied Michelle and with that, she, Neytiri and Juan poised themselves to fight back. Nearby, Blu and Jewel had shared a reunion hug with Carla, Bia and Tiago while Roberto, Brisa and Felix hugged Jojo and Venus, Zephyr and Charlotte hugged Virgil, Matilda and Justin, all glad to be together again after more than a week of separation.

"Wait, where's Lavender?" asked Roberto when he saw that one of his chicks was missing. Lavender, covered with black feathers and bits of blood (not her own), flew in and when her eyes found Roberto, she barked, "DAAD!"

At this, Roberto and Brisa whipped round and saw a pale blue-purple comet fly in and join the hug.

"Lavender!" cried Roberto with relief. Then he, Brisa and Felix hugged Lavender tightly. Roberto was so emotional that he wept. He had never been so relieved in his life. As they broke the hug, Jojo excitedly jumped up and down.

"We've been so WORRIED about you," said Brisa.

"Did you find it?" asked Felix, sparkles in his eyes. Jojo smiled.

"It's real, Dad, Mom, Felix," he said, "It DOES exist!"

Felix smiled but Roberto and Brisa, paused at first but then made disapproving faces.

"Oh, Jojo, Lavender," growled Roberto, much to the two chicks' frustration.

"But Dad…" began Lavender but Brisa cut her off.

"None of your…" she began when she saw Zephyr, Blu and their families surrounded by ravens.

"Let's just get rid of this horrible group of birds first and then we'll talk," said Brisa and with that, Roberto and his family leaped at the ravens and began to fight them with Blu, Zephyr and their families. Nearby, Jupiter, Ruby, Callisto and Europa were united with Io and Ganymede, Ramon and Abigail were reunited with Sheldon and were glad that Estelle was safe, Chiquitita, Mars, Phobos and Deimos were reunited with Alexandre; Mercury, Sapphire, Jasmine and Annette were also reunited with Phoebe, as was Azul will Ceres, Cobalto, Aurelio and Wilbur, Triton with Indigo, Neptune and Ultramarine and Victor, Pedro and Bruna, Blueberry and Charon with Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Flor and Quincy, Alessandro with Abigail and Murphy, and also Titan, Brooke and Mimas with Saturn, Orquidea, Iapetus, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione and Rhea and Oberon and Miranda with Uranus, Esmeralda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania. Velocity was also united with Cometa, Lightning and Orion and Milo with Travis, Sunset, Rosa and Eustace. The latter two families were cross with Velocity and Milo. After sharing a reunion hug, Travis and Sunset began to scold Milo.

"Just what on earth were you thinking, son!?" shouted Travis to an ashamed Milo.

"Don't you realise how worried we've been?" added Sunset. Eustace and Rosa looked on with angry looks as well while Milo, ashamed, said nothing.

"You won't believe how worried we've all been, daughter," shouted Cometa as she shook Velocity.

"We honestly thought you'd have been injured or killed," put in Lightning.

"I'm s-sorry Mom and Dad," cried Velocity. Then Lightning and Cometa pulled her into a hug again.

"Oh, don't ever do this to us again, Velocity, I thought we lost you," cried Cometa, a tear running down her face. Orion also hugged his sister, relieved to see her alive and well.

"Mom, Dad, Orion," said Velocity with a delighted smile, "You're not gonna believe this. You know the myth of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure?"

Cometa, Lightning and Orion were about to answer when suddenly, they found themselves confronted by an orange-breasted falcon, a barred-breasted falcon and a barn owl and some magpies and ravens.

"So, you three are this cute little falcon's parents and brother, eh?" crooned Jafar wickedly, Elektra, Valack (who had recovered from Blu and Jewel's knockout) and their corvid companions sniggering evilly. At this, Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Velocity took up defensive poses. Looks like a real talk will have to wait. Behind them, Travis, Sunset, Milo, Eustace and Rosa were also surrounded by more ravens all poised to attack. Then seconds later, a massive fighting cloud exploded as Jafar's group pounced onto the peregrine falcons and cockatoos. Screeches of rage and agony, from three species of falcon, magpie, raven and cockatoo, erupted from the cloud while feathers flew everywhere. Cometa clawed some ravens across the face while Orion took hold of two more magpies and literally banged their heads together. Lightning and Velocity bit more magpies and ravens while Travis, Sunset, Milo, Eustace and Rosa applied their beaks and talons full force. Milo viciously fought Elektra with Rosa and Eustace helping.

"So you met these," squawked Eustace as he slashed Elektra across the face, "horrible birds during your trip?"

"Yes," said Milo as he bit Elektra's wing, making her scream in agony, "And since then, they've tried to cause us trouble."

Suddenly, Elektra's talon lashed out and snagged Milo by the throat.

"I think you've got that backwards, Major Mitchell's brat," snarled the barred-breasted falcon but before she could harm Milo, Rosa flew in and tore feathers from one of her wings, making Elektra drop Milo and grab her wing. Milo then grabbed Elektra by the throat and yanked her head close to his face.

"I'm NOT just a Major Mitchell's cockatoo, mean thing," snarled Milo, his red and yellow banded crest which he got from Sunset flared out and spittle flying into Elektra's face as he talked, "I'm also half SULFUR-CRESTED!"

And with that he forcefully pushed Elektra away from him, sending her crashing into Jafar. The two falcons then fell in a heap on the floor as Sunset knocked them down. Eustace, Milo and Rosa then exchanged smug nods.

All around the inferno, Blu's group had joined in viciously fighting the gangsters. Jupiter knocked down more ravens and magpies as thunder sounded above in the skies while Ruby, Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto attacked more ravens.

"I really WISH…" Jupiter bellowed as he sent a raven flying into a patch of leaves with a wing swipe, "You lot had NEVER left us on this POINTLESS trip in the first place, Ganymede and Io… (tear noise of feathers) OW!"

Jupiter sprang into the air as he felt searing pain from his tail. One of the magpies had closed its beak onto his tail feathers and had yanked some of the vermillion and teal feathers out of it. The magpie, its beak full of the feathers, sniggered as it watched Jupiter hop up and down, his face twisted in pain. In response, Jupiter lashed with a talon and clawed the magpie across the chest, sending it flying. Then another magpie flew in and crashed inches from Ruby and Io as they knocked down another magpie. At this, the two shot glares in the direction in which the magpie had flown in at Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre.

"Sorry, Ruby," called Mars as he held a raven by the throat. Ruby nodded an 'apology accepted' nod and continued fighting the magpies, while Mars and his family attacked the incoming magpies and ravens. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and their families and the others also continuously attacked any incoming magpies and ravens. However, despite how much effort they put into knocking them down, more just kept coming in.

"Tch, there's just no end of these ruthless birds is there?" said Saturn as he and Mimas wing-swiped two ravens. Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Titan then dived out of the way as another magpie attempted to charge them only to careen into more magpies fighting Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania. Brooke and Iapetus then drove more ravens towards the branch's edge and then shoved them off of it. However, the group of ravens only hovered upward, evil grins plastering their faces much to Iapetus and Brooke's shock.

"How many of these are there!?" shouted Pluto as he flapped a wing to dislodge a magpie that had taken hold if it. Suddenly, another magpie jumped onto Lapis Lazuli's back and began to viciously claw her, making her yelp and screech and bolt to try and dislodge the evil corvid. When Victor as he, Pedro and Bruna fought more corvids, saw this, he gasped, removed his fruit-shell hat and tossed it at the magpie attacking Lapis Lazuli. The hat struck the magpie square on the head and knocked it out. Lapis Lazuli shot Victor a thankful glance and turned to help Pluto, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Blueberry and Neytiri, Michelle and Juan fight off more magpies and ravens while Victor helped Neptune, Ultramarine, Triton and Indigo. As the hyacinth macaws fought off more incoming magpies and ravens, using their enormous size to their advantage, Triton said, "Mom, Dad, the myth is real! We've been there!"

"We don't wanna…" said Neptune as he heaved a raven off his back, "Hear it son."

"You have," shouted Ultramarine as she kicked another raven in the face with a massive talon and sent it flying, "caused us some serious bother!"

Triton breathed an exasperated sigh and continued fighting the magpies and ravens. Nearby, Venus, Zephyr, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, and Abigail, Murphy, Alessandro, Ramon, Sheldon, Estelle and Dani, together with Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette, and Cobalto, Ceres, Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur, fought off more ravens and magpies when one of the magpies sunk its beak into Charlotte's wing. Charlotte shouted in pain as the magpie then tried its best to injure it when a pair of chestnut-fronted macaw talons appeared and brutally slashed it down the back. The magpie cried and released Charlotte's wing. Alessandro glared at the magpie and shot Charlotte a concerned look.

"It's fine," said Charlotte, gazing at her wing, "It's just a bit of a cut."

Alessandro nodded and returned to helping his parents fight off more magpies and ravens. Venus struggled to dislodge a raven as it pulled on her pigtails while Zephyr flattened another magpie underfoot. Ramon and Dani, together with Sheldon, managed to fracture a raven's wing by slamming it as hard as they could into the nearby tree trunk. The raven, a shrill squawk in agony, then fell off the branch, its useless wing crying in pain. Mercury and Ceres's families then drove more ravens and magpies towards Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix and Lavender who then began to brutally claw them. Feathers and blood drops flew everywhere as the Spix macaws tore their talons at the crows and ravens, accompanied by agonised squawks.

The fight continued and the storm cloud overhead had finally begun to release its contents. Rain began to pour down around the fighters while lightning and thunder flashed and rumbled in the sky. The ravens and crows, as well as Gaston, Valack, Drizella, Morgana, Elektra and Jafar, all of whom had recovered from their knockouts and were brutally injured, were beginning to overpower Blu and Carla's groups despite their group being outnumbered by the good guys. Jewel struggled with a raven when suddenly; a massive black wing from Morgana swung in and swiped her across the face, sending her falling over Roberto onto her back, much to Roberto's surprise.

"JEWEL!" cried Blu.

"We can't hold them off much longer!" cried Jewel. Nearby, Kira and Aiden, who had come in to help, were also finding themselves overpowered by the magpies and crows. Carla, Bia and Tiago were swallowed by a pile of wings as were Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Felix and Lavender, and the others including Velocity, Orion, Eustace, Milo and Rosa and their parents. As Ilosovic's evil gang continued to overpower the good guys, Ilosovic stood on a high branch, overlooking the inferno with a devilish and sadistic grin on his face.

"Time for you lot to die, I think," he said. He was about to shout his gang's attention when suddenly, a loud squeaky squawk sounded. The squeaky squawk reached the ears of the fighters and the inferno stopped. Talons and beaks were latched onto feathers and wings were wrapped around throats and limbs. However, eyes were darting this way and that, scanning the rainy forest.

"Do you guys hear that?" asked Carla.

"What IS that?" asked Venus as she grasped a raven by the neck.

"Blu," said Jewel, shooting Blu a hopeful look. Blu listened to the squeaky squawk as it sounded again, this time louder.

"I don't know what bird species makes a call like that," he replied. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, Travis, Cometa and their families and the remaining macaws also looked around as did Morgana, Valack, Jafar, Elektra, Drizella, Gaston and the remaining magpies and ravens. Ilosovic also darted his single green eye this way and that. Many were confused but some were hopeful.

"Isn't that…" began Ganymede hopefully.

"That sounds familiar," said Titan. Saturn shot him a frown.

"What is?" he growled. Then suddenly, a group of something came rocketing through the trees, heading straight for the fighters but specifically aimed at Ilosovic's gang. When the eyes of Morgana who was wedged under Neptune's massive talon landed on whatever was coming towards them, she let loose a shrill screech of terror. At this, the other gangsters, as well as Blu and Carla's group, followed Morgana's gaze and when they saw what she saw, horrified or thunderstruck gasps were drawn sharply. Ilosovic also looked on, his green eye wide and beak dropped open with disbelief. Then within seconds, the entire group of fighters was set upon by a cloud of metallic coloured streaks riding on reddish, greyish and brownish comets. Cries of terror and surprise exploded from the gangster group as the creatures then began to viciously attack them. Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with a highly surprised Blu and Jewel, looked on with jubilant eyes and smiles as the group of newcomers, led by a familiar metallic blue feathered creature with legs resembling wings and a long prehensile tail riding on a reddish bat-like tailed creature but with a beak, released a shrill squawk, pointing a stick at Ilosovic's group. And with that, the magpies, ravens, and Ilosovic's six minions were soon swallowed up by a blanket of metallic blue feathers as wing claws and toothed beaks slashed over their bodies or sank into their feathers. While Ilosovic's gang were being pummelled by the creatures, more creatures began to rescue Carla and Blu's groups and taking them to safety.

As the group of macaws, falcons and cockatoos, some with cuts and bruises, were led to the safety of the a tree a good distance away from the inferno, Blu and Jewel, together with Venus, Zephyr, Brisa, Roberto, Mercury and Sapphire, Mars and Chiquitita, Jupiter and Ruby, Saturn and Orquidea, Uranus and Esmeralda, Neptune and Ultramarine, Ceres and Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, and Travis, Sunset, Cometa, Lightning, Ramon and Dani, Pedro, Bruna, Michelle, Abigail and Murphy looked at the metallic creatures and their bat-like beaked mounts in utter flabbergast. Then Carla bounded over to the metallic blue creature and hugged her.

"Andromeda," she cried, "I can't believe you've come after us."

"What are you doing so far away from your home?" asked Bia and Tiago together as Andromeda, who wore her leaf cloak and mask broke the hug with Carla and took off the mask. The archaeobird looked at Carla's group including Aiden and Kira.

"Mom and Dad have given us permission to leave after you lot," she said, "Since Spock, Anakin, Ophiuchus and I, and some of the other archaeobirds have become good friends with you, they allowed us to leave after you guys."

Then a male light metallic blue archaeobird, recognised by the three half-healed scratches across his belly, came in.

"We missed you terribly," said Spock, "So we came after you but when we heard that you were in trouble, we organised ourselves into an attack squad and came to the rescue."

"It seems that you've got yourselves into another bush of thorns with these pesky birds," growled Andromeda, her eyes gazing bitterly at Ilosovic's minions as they faced a merciless beating from her comrades, among them Ophiuchus and Anakin, her brothers.

"Well, you've arrived just in time," said Ganymede, "We were just becoming overpowered."

Andromeda just smiled. Then Neptune and Ultramarine, Pedro, Bruna, Victor and Indigo came in, their eyes bulging out of their sockets as they fixated on Andromeda, her bat-bird mount Rouge and the others with her, also with their bat-bird mounts, and their beaks dropped open. The six hyacinth macaws looked like they had seen a ghost with those looks.

"So it's TRUE!?" gasped Neptune with immense shock. Andromeda and her comrades exchanged confused looks as the hyacinth macaws apart from Triton, and the others of Blu's group including Blu and Jewel, thunderstruck looks also plastering their faces, began to sway a bit.

"I… don't… believe… it…" murmured Ultramarine, barely able to speak, "The Bizarre Birds from the story… our first-cousin-once-removed was called nutty for believing the myth to be real, and it IS!"

Then Blu and Jewel shot Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender a shocked look.

"Does that mean that the treasure could be…" began Blu. Carla, at this, smiled, took off, flew to the hollow and entered it. Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo and Lavender, and the others that had been on the quest including Milo and Velocity, followed and perched outside the hollow and received their fanny packs from Carla. After this, the 27 birds took their fanny packs and two bags, landed before Blu and the others, unzipped their fanny packs and showed them the sparkly yellow and colourful nuggets of gold and gems. Even greater flabbergast came over the group when they saw the contents, and Ultramarine actually fainted and had to be supported by Bruna and Pedro. Then Cometa, Lightning, Travis, Sunset, Orion, Rosa and Eustace stepped in, also speechless as Carla then zipped up her fanny pack, took it off and handed it to Blu and Jewel. The other macaws, Velocity and Milo did the same and handed it to some of the adult macaws.

"The trip had been incredibly risky," said Io as she handed her fanny pack to Jupiter, "But we made it in the end."

The group then turned serious. "Those fanny packs and two bags need to get to Tulio and his team as soon as possible," said Justin.

"Okay," murmured Blu as he donned the treasure filled fanny pack he had received from Carla. Then Roberto and Brisa turned to Andromeda and her group.

"And what about these… strange bird like creatures?" said Roberto.

"They're called archaeobirds," said Jojo.

"Whatever they are," said Roberto.

"They look more like _Microraptor gui,"_ said Blu, examining Andromeda, Spock and the other archaeobirds standing with them up and down, "An extinct feathered dinosaur."

"Or strange bird," said Virgil.

"While those pterosaurs…" said Blu when he eyed the small bat-birds. Most of the bat-birds had tails ending in a diamond-shaped tip while the remaining bat-birds lacked tails altogether. Blu was too awestruck to speak but he identified the two types of bat-birds as _Rhamphorynoids_ and small _Pterodactyloids_.

"We're gonna live with you on the sanctuary," said Andromeda. At this, the adult macaws exchanged glances.

"But…" said Neptune as he donned the fanny pack given to him by Triton, "There might not be enough room for another clan of creatures…"

Suddenly, there was commotion behind Andromeda and the others. Ophiuchus, riding on his bat-bird mount, flew in.

"The gangster outsiders have given up," he said, puffing and panting from the fight, "But the black seabird creature with a patch over his eye, we cannot find him anywhere."

Andromeda was about to say something when suddenly, a black comet shot in, grabbed Carla by the neck and then took off with her! Horror tore through the good guys, especially Blu, Jewel, Bia and Tiago, and Justin when suddenly, menacing cackling reached their ears, accompanied by screeches of distress. At this, all eyes turned and to their horror, Ilosovic was hovering, his green eye crazed with a murderous desire and Carla dangling in his talons, held by the neck. Lightning flashed in the sky as rain continued to pour.

"CARLA!" cried Blu, Jewel, Tiago, Bia and Justin all at the same time. Zephyr, Venus, Matilda Virgil and some of the others then charged forwards but Ilosovic's threat stopped them dead.

"Stay put, you useless bunch of pests," cackled Ilosovic, "Or this fat Spix macaw DIES!"

And with that, he rocketed off into the stormy trees, the screaming Carla in tow.

"NOOOOO!" cried Jewel as she watched her older daughter get whisked away by the evil frigatebird. Then Bia and Tiago, together with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Felix and Lavender and Phoebe, Alexandre, Io, Mimas, Miranda, Triton, Azul, Velocity, Milo and all their siblings, prepared to take off after Ilosovic to rescue Carla.

"We're NOT gonna let that deranged seabird kill our SISTER!" bellowed Bia. The group was about to take off when their parents stopped them.

"Are you lot LOCO!?" shouted Zephyr, "You could end up killed!"

"Absolutely!" shouted Cometa. Justin, at this, shot Cometa, Zephyr and the other adult macaws including Blu and Jewel a pleading look.

"Please," he shouted, "Get those treasure filled fanny packs and two bags to Tulio and his team. We've gotta do something!"

And then before any of the adults could stop them, the entire group rocketed off after Ilosovic. Kira and Aiden followed. At this, Jupiter tried to take off after them.

"They can't face that horribly frigatebird ALONE!" he cried.

"Leave this to us," said Andromeda, her group including Ophiuchus, Spock and Anakin jumping onto their bat-bird mounts, "You do what you gotta do."

And with that, the entire archaeobird and bat-bird flock took off after Bia's group at Andromeda's screech. Blu, Jewel and the others hesitated but then Neptune told them to go along with Andromeda's command.

"Let's get this treasure to Tulio and his team, folks," he said.

"But Neptune," protested Blu.

"Just DO IT, Blu!" barked Neptune. The other adults including Cometa (who wore Velocity's treasure-filled fanny pack), Lightning, Travis and Sunset were poised to set off for Brazil. Blu, at first hesitated but then he relented. Then Blu's group took off for Brazil, the treasure-filled fanny packs and two bags in tow. Roberto, Brisa, Jupiter, Ruby, Bruna and Pedro helped to carry the two bags, while Neytiri, Estelle, Sheldon and Brooke flew alongside Saturn, Orquidea, Ramon and Dani (Sheldon's parents) while Alessandro flew alongside his parents Abigail and Murphy. The four chicks gazed in the direction in which Bia and company had left, worried looks on their faces.

"Please, rescue Carla you lot," murmured Neytiri worriedly. Then she followed the others towards the Brazil/Guyanese border. However, the group soon had a change of plan and decided to follow Bia and company instead.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30- the final confrontations part one**

The rain continued pouring down torrentially and the winds gusted through the trees, making their branches waver. Lightning flashed frighteningly in the sky, lighting up the jungle in a few split second blinks. Fortunately, this storm wasn't as severe as the previous storm Carla and company faced before finding the legendary Jurassic Jungle, but it was still risky to fly through. Ilosovic, madness consuming him like a fire and warping his mind, continued rocketing through the wavering trees, a screaming Carla trailing behind him like how an eagle carried its prey. Ilosovic released cackles as he charged through the forest, bent on killing Carla in revenge for the humiliating defeats he and his group had faced three times. However, he was not alone. Bia and Tiago, together with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Lavender, Felix, and Phoebe, Jasmine, Annette, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Triton, Indigo and Charon, Blueberry, Quincy, Flor, Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur, Velocity, Orion, Eustace, Milo and Rosa continued charging like a swarm of bees after Ilosovic, thunderous looks smearing their faces as they pursued the frigatebird with Tiago and Bia's older sister in his clutches. Closely behind Bia's group, Andromeda, Rouge and their gang of archaeobirds on their bat-bird mounts rocketed through the canopy for bat-bird wings did not mix well with torrential rain. The archaeobirds' leafy cloaks and leg feathers flapped in the gusting winds while the flames on the torches carried by some of them danced wildly in the gust, belching steam as raindrops struck them. Uttering a sequence of short squeaks, Andromeda signalled to some of the archaeobirds to her right, among them Ophiuchus, to take a diversion and try to cut Ilosovic off from the right. Ophiuchus then uttered his own sequence of squeaks to the archaoebirds following behind him and the group took off to the right, hoping to catch up with Ilosovic and cut him off from the right and make rescuing Carla easier for Bia and company.

As Ilosovic continued maniacally shooting through the canopy with Carla trailing behind him, Bia and company, with Andromeda's group close behind, continued to struggle to keep up, especially Phobos and Deimos due to their smaller size. However, they had support from two of Andromeda's comrades.

"It's no good," screeched Charlotte, dodging right to avoid an outstretched branch, "The rains are making it too difficult!"

"Is there any way we could slow him down?" asked Eustace as he flew in from the right, shaking his head to rid the excess rainwater from his head feathers. At this, Bia and Tiago began to think. What sort of weakness could Ilosovic have? However, with the adrenaline rush of the chase, logical thinking had been clouded. But it eventually came to Bia after what she had read in a book about frigatebirds.

"I've got it," she cried, "Frigatebirds may be seabirds but they do not produce enough of a certain oil most water birds use to waterproof their feathers. If we keep forcing Ilosovic to fly through the rain, he will eventually have to be forced from the sky because his feathers will become too wet for him to fly any further."

"Yeah, but so will we," shouted Justin, "We're not designed to fly through conditions like this, you know!"

"We'll fly through the canopy," said Bia. At this, the others shot each other glances but when Bia and Tiago descended into the canopy, the others followed. It proved to be an effective idea for macaws were built for flying through the clutter of the canopy, though it was hard for the cockatoos and Velocity and Orion the falcons, but it was also difficult for Ilosovic for frigatebirds required open space to fly freely. Thanks to Bia's intelligent problem-solving skills and quick thinking, the gap between the macaws and Ilosovic was beginning to close for Ilosovic was forced to fly over the treetops but at a serious cost. Carla continued screaming as loud as she could as she continued to be dragged helplessly through the rain by the evil frigatebird while Bia and company, with Andromeda and her squad close behind on their bat-bird mounts, continued to close in on Ilosovic from beneath. However, another group was about to intercept Ilosovic. Ophiuchus and his group, who had diverted from the others earlier, had finally managed to overtake Ilosovic by flying through the canopy. Like the macaws, their bat-bird mounts were well adapted for flying through the clutter of the canopy as well due to living most of their lives in the canopy of the Jurassic Jungle. As soon as he saw that they were ahead of the evil frigatebird, Ophiuchus uttered a short squeak sequence to his comrades and at once, the group of archaeobirds followed the large male metallic blue archaeobird on his greyish bat-bird mount and charged straight for Ilosovic's path.

However, while Ophiuchus and his group charged towards Ilosovic, while Bia and company including Andromeda's group continued chasing after Ilosovic underneath, a brownish comet shot in and in a blink of an eye, it snatched Tiago right out of the air, much to the shock and horror of the others, especially Bia. Then a talon appeared from a tree cluster and plucked Matilda from the group like a fly, grabbing her by the neck. However, in the commotion no-one noticed. When Bia and the remaining group shot their gazes this way and that, they heard the sounds of a screaming male macaw.

"LOOOK!" shouted Orion. At this, all heads turned in the direction of Tiago's screams and saw a barred-breasted falcon make off with Tiago in her talons by the neck. At this, horror tore through the group.

"TIAGO!" cried Bia, Jojo, Lavender, Felix, Virgil and Justin together.

"Some of you go after that falcon while we go after that seabird," shouted Andromeda as Phobos rode with her on Rouge. Then in a split-second decision, Jojo decided to lead some of the macaws after the falcon which was Elektra. The Spix macaws apart from Bia, Virgil and Justin, the red macaws apart from Io and Ganymede, Titan and all his six siblings, Miranda and all her four siblings, Triton and Indigo, all three cockatoos and Orion then broke off from the main group and began to chase after Elektra with some of the archaeobirds led by Andromeda, shouting to Bia's group to be careful and get Carla back. The birds that were left were Phoebe, Jasmine, Annette, Azul, Aurelio, Wilbur, Ganymede, Io, Velocity, and Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Bia, Virgil and Justin and they continued chasing after Ilosovic with the remaining archaeobirds led by Spock and Anakin. However, moments after the group's division, a blur of metallic blue feathers, leafy robes and reddish, greyish and brownish bird-like creatures with wings of skin rocketed in from the right and charged right into Ilosovic, but he dodged by swinging to the left, swinging Carla violently outward. However, Ophiuchus managed to clip Ilosovic's left wing and pull a few feathers from it. Feeling searing pain explode from his left wing, Ilosovic, a shout of pain emitting from his beak, lost control and began to plummet towards earth with Carla still in his talons. Bia and the others dived down after him.

Meanwhile, Charlotte's group continued chasing Elektra who had Tiago in his talons. Tiago, rather than screaming and flailing helplessly like Carla, began to try and free himself from Elektra's talons.

"WILL YOU LET ME GO YOU VULTURE!" bellowed the male Spix macaw and with that, he began to spit out all kinds of caustic and gruesome threats at Elektra. Suddenly, Elektra yanked Tiago to her face and spat her own caustic threats right into his face, spittle flying into Tiago's face much to his revulsion.

"When I get outa this, you disgusting blue-feathered rodent," snarled the falcon, maniacal madness volcanically erupting in her eyes, "I'm gonna be having Spix macaw for dinner."

At this, Tiago raised a claw and slashed it across Elektra's face. Elektra let loose a shocked and pained cry and dropped Tiago who was sent plummeting towards the forest floor. He crashed into a violent tumble and came to rest in a patch of ferns. Moments later, more birds rushed in and surrounded him. Charlotte, Jojo, Lavender and Felix pulled Tiago into a tight group hug, relieved that he was unhurt.

"We thought you were doomed for sure," cried Charlotte.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" asked Lavender. She then became filled with alarm when she saw some blood on Tiago's left talon.

"It's not mine," said Tiago, much to Lavender's relief. Then Europa, Callisto, and Titan and Miranda and their siblings came in with Triton and Indigo, Eustace, Milo, Rosa and Orion, and of course, Andromeda and her group, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre who also touched down. Andromeda went over to Tiago and asked, "Are you alright, Tiago?"

"I'm fine," said Tiago. Suddenly, a falcon screech exploded through the stormy but calmer forest floor air, fissuring it and drowning out the sounds of the gusting winds and rains, but it wasn't Orion who had made the cry. Immense terror tore through the group and they all looked up just in time to see an enraged barred-breasted falcon, a bleeding scratch across her face and her big eyes blazing golden fire, shoot in, her talons which glistened like the metal of daggers poised for the kill. At this, the entire group scattered and Elektra's talons were sent slamming into the forest floor. However, the miss did not deter the aggressive falcon and she began to scour the group with her rage-filled eyes.

"I'm gonna SKIN EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU ALIVE!" she bellowed. She then lunged at some of the macaws but they scattered but Elektra's talons managed to latch onto one of Titan's sisters, Tethys. At this, screams erupted from Tethys's beak, much to the horror of the others, especially Mimas, Enceladus, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus as Elektra was then about to carry away and kill but then a brown and pale ivory rocket flew in and tackled the barred-breasted falcon in the side. Tethys was released and was sent plummeting towards the floor but was caught by a landing pad made up of wing claws and feathers. Andromeda's group, Eustace, Milo and Rosa had managed to catch her. Then Tethys was swallowed up by six pairs of aqua blue and yellow wings as her six siblings drew her into a hug. However, the reunion did not last long for the air was filled with furious falcon screeches.

"Guys, LOOOK!" shouted Phobos and Deimos together. At this, the group gathered around the two diminutive green-winged macaws and followed their horrified gaze. When their eyes landed on the source of the falcon screeches, immense horror tore through them.

"ORION!" cried Tiago. Right above a nearby rushing stream, two falcons, a young peregrine and a barred-breasted, were viciously fighting each other, talons tearing wildly and beaks snapping and closing on feathers to rip out. Orion had been taught self-defence by his parents should he ever end up in mortal danger, and was taught how his beak and talons were the most effective tools to use and he had learned the skills well. Now he was putting these skills to full use in viciously fighting Elektra but the older falcon was more experienced in close combat than he was. Despite the experience disadvantage, Orion had managed to land a few brutal scratches onto Elektra. After a few seconds of savage clawing, the two falcons began to circle each other. Blood dribbled from their wounds and bald patches marked their bodies. However, the two glared daggers towards each other as they circled, eyes flooded with thunderstorms like the skies above.

"When this is finished, brat," snarled Elektra, "I'll be turning your friends into a massive feast."

"Oh, and then what?" retorted Orion, "Gorge yourself like a gannet on my friends? I think NOT!"

Tiago, seeing the mortal danger Orion was in, prepared to take off and launch himself at Elektra with Europa, Callisto, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon by his side while Andromeda and some others prepared to rescue the peregrine falcon when suddenly, "Hold it right there, you lot, especially you, Tiago, or your little friend here goes down into the depths of that stream."

At this, dread tore through Tiago's group including Orion but Elektra smiled at the new voice. When Tiago's group's eyes, especially Tiago and Charlotte's eyes, landed on the new speaker, immense horror tore through them when they saw a barn owl perched on a large branch above the stream. With him was an electric blue macaw who resembled Venus and she was bound and gagged. One piece of vine tied her wings to her body while a smaller piece bound her beak tightly. Another piece of vine tied her talons together and connected to a rock. The evil barn owl, Valack, glared wickedly at Tiago and company, one talon wrapped around Matilda's neck and his body next to the rick, ready to shove into the stream. Matilda's eyes were helplessly fixed onto Tiago and company as lightning cracked in the air, filled with pleading and desperation.

"MATILDA!" cried Tiago in horror. Then Orion tried flying at Valack but Elektra stopped him.

"You move any closer to your little blue macaw friend, peregrine brat," growled Elektra scornfully and evilly, "And she will be facin' a watery grave!"

Orion, at this, shot Matilda a horrified look and shivered at the look of frightened desperation on Matilda's face. Then Tiago began to reason with Valack.

"Look, this has gone far enough, Valack," he said, "Just let Matilda go."

The threatening look, however, never left Valack's face. "I think you should have considered your decision to reject our order to join us, Tiago," growled the barn owl in a firm voice. At this, Charlotte, Felix, Phobos, Deimos, Callisto, Europa, and Umbriel, Ariel, Titania, Indigo, Eustace, Rosa, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus and also Orion who had been absent when Carla's group had met Ilosovic and his gang, shot Tiago, Jojo, Milo, Triton, Lavender and Alexandre, Titan and Mimas a confused look each while Andromeda and her group looked on and said nothing for they were equally confused.

"Join their gang?" asked Phobos.

"What does he mean?" asked Indigo. Tiago did not reply for it was too complicated to explain for one and it was pointless for another. Rubbing his beak with a wing feather, he stepped towards Valack and said, "Look, that's not important now. Just release Matilda to us."

The only response Valack gave, however, was a shake of his head. Matilda remained hovering above the stream, the deepest part, in Valack's talon while Valack's body remained close to the rock on the branch. Orion and Elektra also continued to hover. Then Alexandre whispered to Tiago, "I'm afraid he's too stubborn to listen, T. We've gotta do something."

But before Tiago could reply, Valack made his move anyway.

"I think this conversation is getting us nowhere," he hissed and without hesitation, he rammed his body against the rock and nudged it towards the end of the branch. Tiago and the others watched in horror while Orion tried charging but Elektra stopped him. Then after one final nudge, the rock fell from the branch and was sent plummeting towards the stream. Valack then released Matilda and she was pulled into the stream with the rock. A huge splash sounded as the rock plunged into the water, followed by Matilda as she struggled out of her restraints. The rock then sank to the riverbed, pulling Matilda from the surface in a cloud of bubbles. The depth of the stream was great enough to completely submerge a Spix macaw plus a metre-long vine and rock, thus Matilda was pulled from the surface. However she was suspended in the water, the vine tensed vertically. As soon as she was underwater, Matilda began to writhe and get her beak free but because the vine was so tightly wrapped around her beak, this was useless. Above the stream, Valack burst out into a maniacal cackle. That did it. The dam containing the torrent of Tiago's temper finally reached breaking point. Without thinking, the brown-eyed slim version of Blu darted his wings out and lofted himself into flight while Orion returned to fighting Elektra. However, he was soon joined by Andromeda and the others including Charlotte, Lavender, Jojo, Felix, Triton, Indigo, Callisto, Europa, and Phobos, Titan, Miranda, Eustace and all their siblings and together, they began to viciously fight Elektra while Tiago and Valack, who had taken off from the branch to meet him, collided in the air.

The Spix macaw and barn owl then plummeted towards the bank and rolled in a blur of white, orange and blue, locked in a vicious fight. Enraged Spix macaw squawks and owl hoots exploded from the whirlwind as Tiago and Valack exchanged punches, bites, scratches, and ripping of feathers. After coming to rest, Valack heaved Tiago into the air with a powerful flip of his feet. Tiago was sent flying through the air where he slammed against a tree trunk. He then fell in a heap on the floor. Valack, his mind warped at the excitement of the fight much like Ilosovic's, then began to saunter towards Tiago as he struggled to his feet.

"You know something, blue macaw," crooned the barn owl evilly, "It sure was fun putting you pests through all that trouble especially in that jungle of the feathered dinosaurs with those pterodactyls. I would have thought you'd have been eaten alive by those prehistoric monsters that should have died out with the dinosaurs…"

Tiago, at this, shot the barn owl an enraged glare, his brown eyes ablaze with the hottest anger he had ever had to harbour. In the water, below the inferno with the rest of the group as they mercilessly fought Elektra, Matilda was running out of time. She continued struggling and writhing out of her restraints, bubbles billowing all around her, her bound talons helplessly trying to pull the bine binding her beak but it wasn't easy. Furthermore, her lungs were beginning to scream for air, and Matilda's path to drowning had begun. If she wasn't freed from her restraints in a few minutes, she will die. Tiago lunged at Valack but he dodged by jumping into the air. However, the sneaky Spix macaw managed to pick up a glob of wet mud. Then as Valack prepared to lunge at Tiago, his talons with its claws flared for the kill, Tiago threw the glob of mud right into Valack's face and it hit home. The barn owl yelped in shock and began to brush the wet mud out of his eyes but Tiago was upon his back. As hard as he could, the Spix macaw began to score his claws into Valack's back while biting and ripping out feathers, drawing blood and making Valack screech in agony. While Tiago continued unleashing his wrath on Valack, some archaeobirds on their bat-bird mounts came in with Europa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender and Callisto and they all pounced onto Valack.

"We'll deal with this brute, Tiago," shouted Europa, "You go save Matilda!"

At this, the thought of Matilda hit Tiago hard like a stone and he immediately hurried off to find a vine, leaving Europa and her comrades to deal with Valack. The barn owl screeched and writhed under a blanket of red, blue and metallic coloured feathers and reddish, orange, greyish and brownish fur-like coat and wings of skin, but Europa's group soon overpowered him and they began to attack him. Tiago flew towards a net of vines and with his beak, he snapped through the tendrils, freeing a vine long enough to reach into the water where Matilda was. He then hastily rushed for the branch where Valack had shoved Matilda into the stream. Nearby, Andromeda, Charlotte and the others continued fighting Elektra when Orion saw the cluster of bubbles.

"Tiago," he called, indicating with a talon, "She's right there."

Tiago nodded and then hastily tied one end of the vine around his waist and the other to the branch. Back in the water, Matilda's movements were beginning to slow as her oxygen levels dropped lower. As Tiago finished tying the other end of the vine to the vine, he called to those fighting Elektra, "I'm gonna need your help to haul me out of the stream once I have rescued Matilda!"

At this, Elektra exploded from the blanket of fighters and rocketed towards Tiago, her fighters in hot pursuit, a loud screech exploding from her beak.

"TIAGO!" cried Charlotte. Tiago looked on in horror and rose his wings protectively over his head but before the falcon could plunge her talons into him, a cerulean blur shot in and tackled Elektra away. Tiago, when he did not feel any agonising pain from any talons, lowered his wings and looked at where Elektra had been knocked away and to his joy, Jewel had come to the rescue and now she was really viciously fighting Elektra, screeching furiously. On the ground by the bank, more macaws, among them Zephyr and Venus, had come in to help deal with Valack. Then Charlotte, together with Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus and Orion, and some archaeobirds perched behind Tiago and he handed them the vine.

"Hold on to this while I jump into the stream," he ordered. And with that, he leaped off the branch and dropped straight into the river, much to the alarm of the group.

"Tiago, what are you…" began Titan but he was too late. A splash of water sounded as a ring of it rose from the spot where Tiago plunged in. underwater, Tiago looked through the cloud of bubbles made by his entry into the water and saw Matilda's movements slow, her life ebbing away. Immediately, the Spix macaw kicked his legs and edged towards Matilda. He then rose a talon to her beak, hooked his claws onto the vine binding it shut and yanked it off. Then Tiago hooked his beak with Matilda's and began to resuscitate her. Back on the bank, Valack tried fighting back at his attackers but Zephyr and Venus, together with Roberto, Brisa, Uranus, Esmeralda and Cometa and Lightning (some of how had the treasure filled fanny packs around their waists), viciously knocked him back, the others looking on, jumped onto him and began to claw him outright. Europa, Callisto, Jojo, Felix and Lavender began to look away as the barn owl was brutally clawed and then viciously driven away. Meanwhile Jewel and some of the archaeobirds continued fighting Elektra. The barred-breasted falcon tried fighting back but she was soon overpowered. Jewel then hooked her claws around her neck and yanked her to her face.

"Now you will LEAVE our families alone and GET OUT!" she screeched, her teal eyes volcanic eruptions. Then without hesitation, Jewel forcefully threw the falcon down onto the other side of the bank. Elektra plummeted towards the floor and crashed hard against it. A sickening crack was heard as her left wing struck the ground first. As she came to rest, Elektra felt excruciating pain explode from her wing and she grasped it, her face twisted in agony and a shrill squawk erupting from her beak.

"Serves you right, you brute," snarled Jewel when she watched the barred-breasted falcon with unsympathetic eyes. Just then, she heard someone shout her name.

"Jewel, your son's under the water in that stream."

At this, Jewel turned round and saw Uranus and Esmeralda hovering above a cluster of bubbles, horrified and dreaded looks on their faces. Then before Jewel could react in horror, Titan shouted, "He's rescuing Matilda! Can you help us prepare to haul Tiago and her out of the water?"

At this, the three adult macaws turned and saw the seven blue-and-gold macaws, Charlotte and Orion hang on to a vine, poised to pull Tiago ashore.

Back in the stream, Tiago had finished resuscitating Matilda. As soon as a stream of bubbles began to flow from Matilda's beak, Tiago set to freeing her from her restraints. Using his beak, he snapped through the vine holding Matilda to the rock and then began to cut through the vines binding her wings and talons. After this, with one wing around Matilda's midsection, Tiago pulled on the vine to signal those above the water to pull. Charlotte, who was at the front, felt the pull and told the others to start pulling, Jewel, Esmeralda and Uranus helping while the others on the bank watched, hope in their eyes. Then soon, the group on the branch began to pull on the vine in the direction of the bank. Matilda and Tiago were gently pulled closer to the shallower part of the stream and as soon as Tiago's talons found solid ground, he began to pull himself and Matilda ashore. The two blue macaws' heads emerged through the surface of the water as they moved closer to the bank, much to the cheers of the others. Then a soon as the two were ashore, Tiago and Matilda, both with sopping wet feathers, collapsed onto the bank, glad to be on dry land and in the air again.

"Matilda," cried Venus and Zephyr together rand with that, the two rushed for their youngest daughter and hugged her. Jewel also came over and hugged Tiago as well, tears of relief and joy falling from her face.

"Just what were you thinking, son!?" she shouted in a splintery voice, "You could have drowned!"

Tiago, however, did not reply but only smiled. Then Matilda shot Tiago a grateful look from the wings of her parents. Charlotte had also joined in the hug, relieved that her sister was safe and well. Uranus and Esmeralda also hugged Titan, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus and also their own Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon while Cometa and Lightning hugged Orion. Roberto and Brisa also hugged Felix, Jojo and Lavender and also Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Europa and Callisto while Eustace, Milo and Rosa, Andromeda and her group looked on, smiles on their faces and also exchanged pleased looks. Then after the reunions were complete, Titan asked, "Where are Dad and the others?"

"They've gone after the rest of the group who are chasing that frigatebird," said Uranus, "Blu is among them. We've got to fly after and help them before that frigatebird does anything to Carla."

At this, horror tore through Jewel.

"What!?" she snapped, "Now my older daughter's in danger?"

And with that, she opened her wings and took off, followed by Roberto, Venus and parts of their families. Tiago and Matilda, however, rode with an archaeobird on a bat-bird mount for their feathers were too wet for them to fly. Esmeralda then shot the others a glare.

"Let's just get out of here," she said. And with that, the whole group spread their wings and left the area. Elektra, meanwhile, continued staggering through the forest floor clutching her broken wing. However, a hissing noise filled her ears. At this, the barred-breasted falcon looked this way and that until her eyes landed on a huge reptile with a long, long legless body, its forked tongue darting and flickering in the air, hungry eyes fixed on the falcon. At this, Elektra uttered an immense screech of fear as the snake advanced towards her to catch her…


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31- the final confrontations part two, the final faceoff with Ilosovic**

 **Meanwhile**

Carla and Ilosovic careened through the canopy, Ilosovic's talons still wrapped around Carla's neck. The enormous black frigatebird who had a large wingspan descended in a nosedive, the confusion from the pain in his left wing where Ophiuchus had torn some feathers clouding his concentration on flying. Carla who flailed in his grasp began to try and free herself by biting at his toes. Behind the two falling birds, Bia, together with Virgil, Justin, Io, Ganymede, Phoebe, Jasmine, Annette, Aurelio, Azul, Wilbur, Velocity, and Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor, Kira and Aiden and the remaining archaeobirds led by Anakin, Ophiuchus and Spock, followed the two birds as they plummeted towards the forest floor. Ilosovic tried flapping madly to pull himself out of the dive but because his wings were sodden from the rain and his left wing was missing a few flight feathers, thus Ilosovic's flight was rendered useless. Both the frigatebird and the chubby Spix macaw landed on the forest floor in a mighty crash, rolled into a violent tumble for a few metres before finally coming to rest. The pair stopped just a few metres from the bank of a rushing river. As the two rose to their feet and Bia's group touched down with the archaeobirds led by Andromeda's two brothers and cousin on their bat-bird mounts. Ilosovic staggered about as though drunk but his single green eye glittered with the storm of malice like the storm in the sky. Bia and Justin rushed to help Carla up. Then the green-eyed Spix macaw glared at the frigatebird.

"It's over, Ilosovic;" growled she, "Give it up."

"Your entire gang, I believe," added Bia, "Has been scattered."

Ilosovic, however, continued glaring at Carla and the others with her with his madness-filled eye.

"NEVER," he bellowed, lightning clapping in the sky and lighting him up terrifyingly. The wind gusted through his wet feathers and the rains continued pouring down onto him. "Not until I have punished you lot for not joining our group!"

"You're one crazy seabird, did you know that?" growled Virgil.

"Why didn't you just let us go rather than continue after us!?" asked Phoebe.

"We did tell you time and time again," said Azul, "That we did not want to join your beastly group but you refused to listen."

Jasmine, Annette, Quincy, Flor, Aurelio and Wilbur, at this, exchanged glances and shrugged for they had not been present when Carla's group had faced all the trouble from Ilosovic and his gang. Ilosovic, however, stubbornly refused to back down. Before he was about to retort, sounds of the flapping of dozens of wing pairs reached the ears of the group.

"Carla, Bia!" shouted a voice.

"Phoebe, Annette, Jasmine," shouted another, "Azul, Aurelio, Wilbur, Io, Ganymede, Charon, Blueberry, Quincy, Flor, Velocity!"

At this, Carla, Bia and the others including the archaeobirds all turned round and saw another group of macaws hover a few metres from them, beaks agape in horror. Jupiter and Ruby, the two at the front who had shouted Carla's group's names, had their eyes bulging with horror as they gazed at Ilosovic and the insanity in his eyes. To the left of Jupiter and Ruby, Sheldon and his parents Dani and Ramon, and Alessandro and his parents, Murphy and Abigail, also gawked in horror. When Carla's group was distracted by the appearance of Jupiter's group, Ilosovic seized the opportunity to attack. With an enraged squawk, the frigatebird launched off the ground and leaped right at Carla. The group screamed in horror as the black seabird collided with the chubby Spix macaw and began fighting. Carla and Ilosovic were a whirlwind of cerulean, black and a bit of red from Ilosovic's throat pouch. As the two rolled to a stop, Ilosovic had Carla pinned by the neck against a tree trunk with a talon.

"I'm gonna strangle ya, you fat blue macaw!" snarled the frigatebird but before he could tighten his grip onto Carla's neck to cut off her breathing, a dark blue blur rocketed in and tackled Ilosovic in the side. Carla, the moment the grip of Ilosovic's talon on her neck was removed, fell to the floor but was caught by Justin and Virgil, while Kira and Ilosovic took another violent tumble towards the river's edge. The others followed.

"KIRA!" shouted Bia. Aiden also shouted Kira's name as the frigatebird and the former gang member slowed to a halt, right on a piece of land protruding over the rushing river. This piece of land was unstable and a few balls of dirt fell into the water as the Spix macaw and frigatebird made the protrusion shake slightly. The rains beat down and the sky flashed with a fissure of lightning. As Kira pinned Ilosovic down by the neck with a talon, the maniacal frigatebird glared back at her with a sneering look on his face.

"Hi, Kira," crooned the frigatebird evilly, "I reckon you've come back to join my side, eh?"

Kira, in response, pressed her talon harder onto Ilosovic's neck, almost cutting off his breathing. Ophiuchus surveyed the piece of land.

"That small overhang is unstable," he said, "If those two make any sudden movements, the overhang will collapse and the two will end up falling into the river."

Jupiter, at this, opened his wings to take off to rescue Kira.

"Jupiter, WAIT!" shouted Ruby but the muscularly built scarlet macaw ignored her and rocketed towards the frigatebird and Spix macaw but the moment Jupiter approached the overhang and his eyes landed on the rushing water of the nearby river, terror swept over him and brought him to a frightened hover. Ilosovic and Kira shot the scarlet macaw a surprise look as Jupiter began to tremble and lose control of his breathing. Then bad memories began to flood into Jupiter's mind like the flood of the river, alongside an evil voice of the deranged cockatoo that had attempted to drown him.

" _Release me THIS MINUTE or I'll claw or bite you to make you!"_

" _Not a chance, pretty bird, not until you DIE!_

Jupiter then saw a pair of deranged brown eyes glare at him in the most terrifying way, talons around his neck as the current carried him and his attempted murderer along the stream, as well as the overwhelming urge to surface and gasp for air. Then when the flow of memories reached breaking point, Jupiter released a terrified short squawk and backed away from the river, his vermillion feathers on end, bumping into Velocity, Ganymede and Io in the process.

"Dad," cried Ganymede as Jupiter turned round and shot into a patch of ferns to escape the rush of returning memories of Nigel's attempts to drown him in a rushing stream. The archaeobirds looked on in surprise.

"What's up with him?" asked Anakin.

"That's our dad Jupiter," said Io, "He's had a nasty experience with rushing water a few years ago."

Anakin gazed at Io in confusion as Jupiter, trembling like a leaf, peered out from the ferns as Ruby flew over to him. Then suddenly, Bia's voice shouted, "KIRA!"

At this, Io and Anakin's heads snapped back in the direction of Kira and Ilosovic and to their horror, they saw the deranged frigatebird wrestle with the Spix macaw. As Kira and Ilosovic continued to struggle, the ground underneath them began to shake, more balls of earth dropping into the rushing water. Then Aiden leaped in to help by jumping onto Ilosovic's back and hooking his neck with his wings to restrain Ilosovic from biting Kira's face with his beak. However, Ilosovic whipped round, grabbed Aiden by the neck and slammed him into the floor next to Kira. Next, the frigatebird wrapped his wings around both Kira and Aiden's necks, one for each macaw and held each of them above the rushing water. Bia, Io, Ganymede, Phoebe, Azul and the others, when they saw this, immediately rushed for Ilosovic but the piercing, deranged green eye stopped them in their tracks. Then soon, Blu's group, along with Jewel, Tiago, Matilda, Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Zephyr, Venus, Uranus, Esmeralda and Miranda and Titan and all their siblings appeared. When they saw the evil frigatebird dangle Aiden and Kira by the necks over the rushing water, horror exploded within them.

"KIRA!" shouted Tiago, Jojo, Lavender and Felix together. Bia and Virgil then tried to surge forward to rescue the two macaws but Ilosovic stopped them with a chilling threat.

"Stay where you lot are," he growled threateningly, "Or these two will be sent to a watery GRAVE!"

This made chills crawl over the skins of the group, especially Carla, Bia, Tiago and their friends as Ilosovic turned back to look at the two macaws in his wings. Then Saturn identified Aiden and Kira's species. He immediately knew what the two macaws were based on their features.

"They're a Spix and a glaucous macaw," he said, "And the Spix macaw looks a lot like Blu."

"Are you saying she is related to me?" asked Blu in surprise.

"SHUT UP!" barked Ilosovic, making the two macaws jump, "Or these two are dead in the water. I mean it!"

Kira and Aiden gazed back at Blu and the others with fearful eyes but when Ilosovic's single eye refocused on them, disgust and rage burned within them. From the side, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, and Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Velocity (the former three who had returned with Blu's group), looked on in worry, concerned for the Spix and glaucous macaws in Ilosovic's grasp.

"Well, you two," hissed the frigatebird in a low voice, "I have to say, you both really have been _very, very, very_ naughty over the past two days." Ilosovic hardened his single eyed gazed. "I would have thought that you two would have come back to join my side again, but it seems that you have decided to change your allegiance. It would have been great to have you two causing trouble for other birds and the humans again."

"I'm afraid those days are gone forever, Ilosovic," snapped Kira hostilely, "For all our lives we have had to trust you since those poachers destroyed our families and friends when we were chicks."

Surprise tore through Blu's group.

"You were both victims of poachers?" asked Venus incredulously. Kira and Aiden ignored the pigtailed Spix macaw and continued to address the frigatebird who had them by their throats.

"I told you before, you two," Ilosovic snarled, lightning flashing in the sky, "All humans are evil who deserve to be viciously attacked for what they do…"

When Blu heard this, revulsion tore through him. 'Not all humans are evil,' he thought. Kira and Aiden hardened their scowling gazes.

"Well, based on what Carla, Bia, Tiago and their friends told us about their home being set up as a protected reserve by some humans who do care for the environment and for rare species such as the Spix and glaucous macaws," snapped Kira, "It seems that that belief is not true, but WE had been too blind by grief and our naiveté to see that that isn't always the case."

Ilosovic's face morphed into a look of shock at the change in Kira and Aiden.

"You know something, Ilosovic?" added Aiden, "I really wish we had never joined your gang in the first place, especially based on how you treated us and sometimes abandoned us especially every time we got injured or something."

"So when this is over," added Kira, "We're gonna go back to Brazil with our new friends… TRUE friends, that is."

Ilosovic's shocked look transformed back into the enraged one as fury exploded within him.

"You both have become intoxicated by that good-for-nothing FAT SPIX MACAW and her FRIENDS!" he bellowed and with that, he prepared to throw Kira and Aiden into the choppy waters when suddenly, Travis saw something sail rapidly towards the group on the powerful current of the choppy river. The others standing on the bank also saw it, and it was heading straight towards the piece of protruding ground where Ilosovic, Kira and Aiden were. It was a massive cluster of logs and branches.

"YOU THREE!" bellowed Travis in alarm, "Get back ashore, NOW!"

Ilosovic shot the sulfur-crested cockatoo a threatening look.

"You want me to release these two useless macaws, yellow crest?" he growled. As the massive cluster of trees and branches drew nearer, Jojo, Lavender and Felix and the others shot Carla a frightened look.

"CARLA!" shouted Jojo. At this, Carla took off and rocketed straight towards Ilosovic when he refused to move from the protrusion of land and out of the path of the drifting pile of wooden debris.

"Carla!"£ barked Blu.

"Get back HERE!" shouted Jewel. The others also shouted for Carla to return but the chubby Spix macaw, her eyes on Aiden and Kira as the debris pile was seconds away from colliding with the protrusion, rammed with all her might into Ilosovic's side. The frigatebird, with a screech of pain and surprise, threw Kira and Aiden into the air just as the debris pile swept by and smashed the protrusion before continuing to sail with the current. Kira and Aiden flew through the air and were caught by a few pairs of wings and a pair of wing claws. Jojo, Blueberry, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus and Andromeda then lowered the stunned Spix and glaucous macaws onto the safety of the bank. However, someone was missing.

"CARLA!" shouted Jewel's voice. At this, a horrible feeling flared within Kira and Aiden. Springing to their feet, the two rushed off for the remains of the protrusion and looked out to see where Carla had gone to. Blu, Jewel, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, and Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Venus craned their heads into the air above the water's edge and began to look for a flash of cerulean amongst the choppy waters while some of the others hovered above to look from an aerial angle. Then Spock, riding on his bat-bird mount, found a lump of cerulean on the pile of debris with a black form.

"There she is," he called, pointing a wing-claw. Cometa flew in and drew in a sharp gasp when her telescopic eyes saw Carla and Ilosovic.

"If we don't get those two off that pile of driftwood," she shouted, "A rush of water might come and knock them both into the choppy waters, or even worse, they might go over a…"

She did not want to say the 'w' word, especially when she saw the terrified looks on Carla's family's face. Then Roberto flew in.

"Let's chase down that pile of trunks and branches before anything happens to those two," he shouted.

"Okay, you go on ahead while we look after the treasure filled fanny packs and bags and the others," shouted Neptune as he stood with Triton and Indigo who wanted to help but their father, fearing for their safety, wouldn't let them. And with that, Roberto, Brisa, Blu and Jewel, Bia, Tiago, Venus and her family, and Cometa and Lightning and some of the archaeobirds including Spock and Ophiuchus on their bat-bird mounts took off after the pile of debris on which Ilosovic and Carla stood.

Carla rose to her feet, as did Ilosovic. The enraged frigatebird, whose logical thinking had been swallowed up by his wrath by now, glared at the Spix macaw with his malice-filled single eye.

"You really have done it, Spix macaw," he snarled and with that, he tore a piece of sharp wood from a branch and began to advance towards Carla, keeping his balance as the driftwood swung about in the current. Carla glared back at the frigatebird as he walked towards her and picked up a stick. Ilosovic, with an enraged screech, then lurched towards Carla and attempted to stab her with the sharp wood shard but Carla blocked it with her stick. The two pieces of wood struck with a woody sound. Then Ilosovic raised the wood above his head as lightning flashed in the sky and swing it at Carla's head but the Spix macaw ducked, sending the wood shard smashing into a complicated mesh of tangled branches.

"Tired, fatso?" sneered Ilosovic as he wrenched his weapon free, his taunting eye on Carla, "I hope you are 'cos you're goin' down."

Carla stood up and raised her stick, prepared for action.

"I hope I'll never have to go through anything like this ever again, pirate face," snapped she and with that, the Spix macaw and the frigatebird launched into a vicious duel with their weapons of wood. Rain continued gushing down around them while winds howled across the choppy waters. The powerful current of the river's rapids kept rotating the pile of debris while lightning flashed in the dark skies. Carla and Ilosovic continued exchanging clashes with their wood weapons.

"You know something, fatty," snarled Ilosovic as he defensively raised his wood shard in front of his head to block an attempted blow from Carla's stick, "You wish you'd never met us."

"Oh, YEAH!?" retorted Carla as she swing her stick at Ilosovic's belly only for him to block that with his weapon, somersault away and then step towards her again, "I think you've got that the wrong way round, Ilosovic!"

She then jumped up, somersaulted once backwards when Ilosovic did a low sweep with his weapon, landed on her feet and attempted to whack Ilosovic on the head only for him to block it again with his weapon.

"Why did you capture us in the first place, anyway!?" shouted Carla as she drew her stick away, "You must have thought that it was all completely and utterly pointless."

"We were looking for new members to join our GANG!" retorted Ilosovic as he rose his shard and swung it at Carla, "And when we saw you lot, we'd thought you'd make great additions to our group for causing trouble," he slammed his shard against Carla's stick when she blocked it from hitting her head. "But when you refused, we weren't gonna take no for an answer, so we went after you to punish you!"

Ilosovic then jumped over Carla, somersaulting once on the way, landed on her opposite side, raised his shard again and swung it at Carla, saying, "But it seems that you lot are more trouble than we thought!"

As he said this, the sharp end of the stick swung precariously close to Carla's neck, missing it by centimetres. An artery ran in that spot, and just a few centimetres from the sharp point of the shard closer to the skin, the results would have been fatal. Carla then lurched forward, slammed her stick against Ilosovic's and forced him down onto his back as the debris they were on swung round again.

"You know," snarled Carla at the top of her voice, "It is easier to break a Brazil or coconut nut SHELL than that thick, tough skull of YOURS!"

Ilosovic, at this, forced Carla off himself, lurched forward and tried to impale Carla through the chest with his shard, but Carla blocked it with a swing of her stick. Then the Spix macaw began to force the two clashed weapons against the frigatebird, grunting hard. Ilosovic, at this, pressed his feet against the wood to make it more difficult for Carla to force him back further. The faces of both fighters twisted with effort as they both braced themselves against each other, the Spix macaw pushing and the frigatebird resisting. Then Ilosovic, with a powerful surge of power in his upper body, shoved Carla back, sending her tripping and falling backwards. Her stick flew from her wing and careened into the choppy waters. Seeing that Carla was now defenceless, Ilosovic then walked towards her and towered menacingly over her.

"I've got you now, useless Spix macaw," he crooned evilly, his shard raised with its sharp tip aiming for Carla's chest, "We did warn you. If you mess with us, you'd face our fury."

Carla, at this, shot Ilosovic a furious glare. Her green eyes then saw a flash of cerulean through the passing trees

"Oh yeah," she growled, "You ought to say that to my MOM!"

Ilosovic, at this, made a surprised face when suddenly; an extremely enraged screech exploded from the pair's left, much to Carla's grin. Like a cerulean missile, Jewel rocketed from the trees and shot straight towards Ilosovic. Her teal eyes were ablaze with volcanic eruptions and her talons were poised for inflicting injury. Then before Ilosovic could react, Jewel's talons hit home. The frigatebird released a screech of agony as Jewel's thorn-like talons slashed over his face and chest. He then lost his balance and fell into the water. Carla smiled as Jewel then veered round and quickly flew for her. Suddenly, her peripheral vision caught sighted something not right. At this, Carla's gaze looked ahead and when she saw the river appear to disappear into a drop, she drew in a horrified gasp. Then Cometa's voice rang out.

"Jewel, quick, the WATERFALL!" shouted the peregrine falcon from the trees, Blu and Zephyr flying beside her. Jewel, at this, rocketed towards Carla, hooked her talons and then carried her away as fast as her wings would carry her. She made haste for macaws could not fly well in rainy weather. This done, Jewel, with Carla in her talons, shouted, "Okay, I've got her!"

And with that, Cometa, Blu, Bia, Tiago, Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, and Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Lavender, Felix, Cometa and the archaeobirds and the rest that had come with them to chase Carla and Ilosovic then turned round and made their way back to where everyone else was waiting. The driftwood, meanwhile, sailed towards the waterfall's top and then drifted over the edge. It plummeted towards the plunge pool at the foot of the waterfall and exploded into many wooden fragments as it struck the water. Ilosovic, meanwhile, had managed to force himself towards the bank haul himself ashore. As he crawled onto the bank out of the pull of the current of the river, his face and chest lined with four gashes weeping blood and his eye-patch missing, his upper body collapsed onto the moss and he began to catch his breath. However, Ilosovic was unaware that he had unintentionally put himself in the face of another hazard. As the frigatebird then tried to struggle to his feet, wincing from the pain of his scratches across his face and chest, he heard a growl noise sound nearby. At this, Ilosovic stiffened and began to look around.

"Now what," he groaned. He continued scanning his surroundings until his eyes landed on a pair of feline eyes gazing at him. The owner of the eyes had a golden pelt spotted with a black and brown rosette pattern covering its entire body. Its tail flicked at the air and its mouth was dripping saliva. The pair of eyes gazed at Ilosovic hungrily, and it was the creature that was the source of the growling noise. With the creature were two more creatures, very like it but smaller. It took Ilosovic a few seconds to register what sort of creature this was, but when recognition finally took hold, the frigatebird felt panic rush through his body. As he began to back away, whimpering in immense fright, the creature, a jaguar and a mother of two cubs, raised a paw and slammed it onto Ilosovic's forked tail. Ilosovic continued crying and desperately escaping but his attempts were futile. He wailed in fear, his single green eye gazing at the hungry gaze of the jaguar as it towered over him and raised its paw again. Then Ilosovic's cries were abruptly cut off as the jaguar's paw came down in a killing blow.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32- ending**

Lightning continued to flash in the sky while rain continued to pour down and the winds gusted through the trees, making their branches waver. Jewel carried the sodden and exhausted Carla through the trees with Blu, Bia, Tiago, and Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Cometa and some of the others following. Soon, the rest of the group waiting for them melted into view and as soon as Jewel arrived before them, she gently lowered Carla onto the grass. After this, Carla was swallowed up by a few pairs of wings as her brother and sister, father, Justin, and Roberto hugged her, relieved that she was safe and well. The rest of the group also shared a proper reunion hug as well. Jupiter and Ruby hugged Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto while Mars and Chiquitita hugged Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre. Mercury and Sapphire hugged their three daughters Phoebe, Jasmine and Anette; Venus, Zephyr, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil also shared a family hug, as did Saturn and Orquidea with Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus; Uranus and Esmeralda with Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon; Neptune and Ultramarine with Triton and Indigo; Ceres and Cobalto with Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur; Pluto and Lapis Lazuli with Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor; and Cometa and Lightning with Orion and Velocity and also Travis, Sunset, Milo, Rosa and Eustace. Brooke, Sheldon, Estelle, Alessandro, Neytiri and Victor, who looked on with their families and the archaeobirds, all smiled. As he broke the hug with his sons and daughters, Zephyr gazed at Justin, Matilda and Virgil.

"Boy, you three. You sure had us worried," he said with relief, "I can't believe you left us like that."

Just, Matilda and Virgil smiled.

"And you had Charlotte and the others lying to us?" asked Venus, shooting a look at Charlotte. At this, looks of shame crossed the four offspring's faces.

"Oh, we're sorry, Mom, Dad," said Justin. Venus sand Zephyr then smiled.

"Boy, we're so proud of you, though," said Zephyr. Then Neptune, Ultramarine, Pedro and Bruna walked in.

"Justin, Matilda and Virgil," said Ultramarine, holding up one of the treasure filled fanny packs, "I can't believe that you three, together with Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others that had gone missing, including our son Triton, have come all the way here and have found that place featured in our story and have found the treasure."

"It will surely help Tulio and his team to pay off that debt mountain threatening our homes, that's for sure," said Neptune. At this, Justin, Matilda and Virgil reacted in alarm.

"Tulio and his team?" said Justin.

"How are they doing?" asked Matilda.

"They've been struggling for the past few days from the stress of the debt crisis," said Zephyr sadly, "And Tulio himself looked like he hadn't got much sleep either."

"Some of us had been observing him," said Victor who stood by Bruna and Pedro, "And he looked sleep-deprived."

"I'm not surprised," said Justin. His eyes then travelled to the fanny packs and bags. "Anyway, the last step is getting that lot to Tulio and his team."

Then Cometa came in and said, "He'll be in Rio, so that means we might have to travel to that city as soon as possible."

At this, Zephyr, Venus, Neptune and Ultramarine shot her a look.

"But that could take days," said Zephyr, "We can't fly all the way from here to Rio."

"Certainly not with the rare treasure on us," said Venus. She then gazed at Andromeda and her group of archaeobirds and their bat-bird mounts and added, "And furthermore, we'd be travelling through unprotected territory and if those strange creatures end up in the sight of poachers, they're gonna be facing some serious danger."

"There has to be another way, a quicker one, to get back to Rio," said Zephyr.

"Hey, guys," said Carla, Bia and Tiago flanking her with Blu and Jewel standing behind them, "We could catch a plane back to Rio."

"Yeah, we've caught a plane from Rio and flew to Georgetown," said Bia, "So we could get catch a plane bound for Rio for the return journey."

"It took about fifteen hours or so," said Tiago. At this, Venus and Neptune looked at Zephyr, Bruna, Pedro and Ultramarine.

"Oh, right," said Pedro, "But we can't board a plane in the same way humans can."

However, Blu, who had amazing knowledge of humans and their technology, smiled. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll be able to get us back home that way."

Jewel smiled at her mate but Venus and Zephyr looked uncertain, especially as they gazed at Roberto as he talked with Jupiter and his family.

"Um, Roberto has a fear of cages Blu," said Zephyr, "And furthermore," he nodded to Andromeda's group as they introduced themselves and their bat-bird mounts to Uranus, Esmeralda, Saturn, Orquidea, Mercury and Sapphire and added, "Those lot might have trouble getting through the airport system to get to the plane…"

However, Blu already had this covered as well. "Don't worry," he said, "I have an idea on how they can get to a plane as well."

The others all smiled. However, two of them were facing away from the group, had their heads bowed with ashamed looks on their faces. Tears also fell from their eyes and sniffles escaped their beaks. When Carla, Bia and Tiago saw Kira and Aiden weep, they went over to the two.

"Hey, Kira, Aiden, what's wrong?" asked Carla.

"We still feel very guilty for our behaviour towards you, Carla," murmured Kira in a sad voice. Aiden then looked up at Carla, Bia and Tiago. The others, including Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Jojo, Felix and Lavender gathered round.

"I just cannot believe that we've been so blind to the fact that Ilosovic and his gang were the wrong crowd to get involved with in the first place," Aiden said.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault," said Bia, a comforting wing on Aiden's shoulder, "You were too young to know back then."

"But we've caused humans and other animals no end of trouble with that bunch of so-called friends," said Aiden, "And we even viewed those gangsters as friends despite them abandoning us several times, especially whenever we got injured."

"That's true," said Kira, a frown on her face but with tears still falling from her eyes, "Not to mention that we've also been rotten to you and caused you trouble as well," she gazed at Jojo, guilt rising up inside her. "I almost strangled you with a vine when you were trying to escape us and Aiden also picked a fight with Blueberry as well."

Aiden then shot Blueberry a guilty look.

"I don't think you could forgive us for those awful things that we've done to you," murmured Kira, "After all, we now know that those guys were led by that frigatebird were a bunch of outright idiots but so are we for hanging around with them all this time."

"Look, we forgive you, okay?" said Jojo, a frown on his face, "You were just influenced by that bunch of horrible birds."

"That is why we always avoid getting involved with crowds like that," said Felix.

"Bad company corrupts good character," said Lavender, "Mr Jupiter once told us."

She looked at Jupiter who nodded in agreement. That statement was true alright. Then Zephyr began to get a bit impatient.

"Hey," he shouted, making the young macaws look his way, "Are we gonna get ready to depart and head back to Brazil?"

"Yes, I'm itching to get back home as is everyone else," said Venus.

"The sooner we leave this place the better," said Pluto.

"And we want to get this treasure to Tulio and his team as soon as possible as well," added Jupiter who held one of the treasure filled fanny packs. Blu, Jewel and the other adults, and also Andromeda and her group, nodded in agreement. Carla, Bia and Tiago smiled and then looked back at Kira and Aiden.

"It's time to depart for home now," said Carla.

"Would you like to come with us?" asked Bia.

"You two are, after all, part of two rare species," said Tiago, "You being a Spix macaw Kira and you a glaucous macaw Aiden."

Kira and Aiden, at first, gazed at the three Spix macaws. Then Blu and Jewel stepped forward and extended a wing each to the pair.

"Come on," said Blu gently, "We don't want to leave you both out here alone. We would rather have you two join us and live with us on the Sanctuary de Amazon away from any poachers who would easily target you if they find you."

"You could also join our tribes and clans," added Jewel, "I'm sure Daddy and Rudi wouldn't mind having you two join us back home."

"B-b-but," began Kira but then she saw the pleading looks on the faces of the other macaws her age, especially Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and also Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor, but most especially Jojo and Blueberry for the two had started to grow attracted to Kira and Aiden respectively. Kira and Aiden paused to think about the decision. Would they rather choose to live alone, vulnerable to getting caught by poachers after living most of their lives with a gangster group, or go with Blu and company back to Brazil to live with their own species? After a few minutes of thinking over their decision, Kira and Aiden, for the first time in years, formed a proper smile on their beaks.

"Oh, we would like that very much," said Kira and Aiden together and with that, Kira jumped into Blu and Jewel's wings while Aiden joined Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor and met Neytiri and Juan who were also glad that he was coming along. The others cheered and then after Blu had broken his hug with Kira, he turned to the others.

"Okay, let's go home," he said.

 **Later**

And so, the return journey back to Brazil went ahead based on Blu's idea, which was itself based on Carla and her group's method of getting to Guyana on the first place. The entire group, the archaeobirds and their bat-bird mounts included, took off from their location and began their long journey back to Brazil. They had gathered food on the way and had boarded a plane bound for Rio, using Blu, Ganymede and Bia's ability to interpret the plane timetables displayed on electronic screens to select the right plane to board. Some went through the airport system via cages while the rest, among them Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, and Andromeda's group, since the first in this line loathed cages and the latter lot did not want to be spotted, sneaked aboard the plane via another route by flying to an airfield (avoiding being spotted by working humans such as baggage handlers), and then boarding the same plane at Blu's signal. The group took the fanny packs and bags that were filled with the harvested treasure and also their food supply with them and soon, the plane on which they were on made its way to a runway and took off, bound for Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

After around 13 hours and the plane's touching down at the international airport in Rio, Blu and the rest disembarked and headed off into the city. Human cities were a completely new and unfamiliar sight to Andromeda and her group, and they were amazed that humans had the capacity to build such awesome structures, among them the Christ the Redeemer statue. However, they returned their focus on getting to the Amazon where they will settle. After leaving the plane and sneaking through the airport, Blu and company flew into the city in the direction of Tulio's Aviary. After a while of flying through the city, then group arrived at Tulio's Aviary. There, Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, as well as some of the others including Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Brisa, and Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, Cometa, Travis and Sunset handed the treasure-filled bags and fanny packs to Tulio and his team in the aviary while everyone else waited in the safety of the trees. At first, Tulio and company were very surprised to see the treasure in the two bags and fanny packs Blu and the others presented to them and wondered how the birds had managed to find the gold nuggets and gem lumps, since they were obviously from some natural deposit. Nonetheless, Tulio and company took the fanny packs and two bags, while Blu and company returned to the Sanctuary de Amazon. Over the next few days, the treasure was sold by Tulio and his team and the money made was enough to pay off the debt threatening the Sanctuary de Amazon, averting the threat altogether.

Over the coming weeks, the day on which the deadline of the debt payment came and went but the Sanctuary de Amazon still stood as a protected reserve. And while the treasure had made enough money to pay off the debt, it had left quite an amount so Tulio and the others used it to expand the sanctuary and protect more of the Amazon rainforest from the touch of the pollution of loggers and poachers. Within that new area, Andromeda and her group and their bat-bird mounts settled with some macaw and toucan groups, while everything returned to normal in the macaw tribes and clans and smaller bird groups. And Carla, Bia and Tiago, as well as Justin, Matilda and Virgil, Phoebe, Azul, Jojo and Lavender, Alexandre, Estelle, Io, Ganymede and Sheldon, Mimas, Titan and Brooke, Miranda and Oberon, Triton, Blueberry, Charon and Neytiri, Alessandro, and also Milo and Velocity were vindicated and hailed as heroes and the brave group who went on a quest to save the sanctuary despite all odds, although they had received a couple of week's grounding with the others who did not go with them to Guyana as punishment for lying and leaving the others worried. Collette and Broccoli were also rewarded for playing a part in the plot as well, despite it being only small. As for Kira and Aiden, it was found that Kira was a relative of Blu and in fact his niece and a cousin of Carla, Bia and Tiago while Aiden came from another family of glaucous macaws totally unrelated to Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor that had lived close to the vicinity of Rio but not in the same place as Pluto's family. The two had lost their families and friends to poachers, similar to how Mercury, Venus, Pluto and also Blu, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Ceres had lost their families as well when they were chicks but Kira and Aiden's incident had occurred years alter due to them being roughly the same age as Carla, Bia and Tiago and the others. This was before Ilosovic and his gang took them under their wings but did not look after them well at all. Kira and Aiden had eventually let go of their guilt of joining the gangsters and causing so much trouble with them and had put their past behind them, ready to face their new future with their new, and true, friends and family. Kira had been adopted by Blu and Jewel and had been taken in by the Spix macaw tribe (welcomed by Eduardo) while Aiden had been taken in by Rudi and Valeria and the glaucous macaw tribe to become the adopted son of Michelle, brother of Juan and cousin of Neytiri. Life really was returning to normal in the Sanctuary de Amazon now that the threat of the debt crisis has been averted, and the macaw tribes and clans and the rest of the inhabitants on the land were safe once again from the worry of poachers and loggers.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33- epilogue and celebrations**

 **A year later**

The Sanctuary de Amazon was alive with the sounds of various birdcalls like usual and the golden sun hovered in the sky, beaming its shafts of light onto the sea of green trees sprinkled with the colour of flowers, brightly coloured animals and fruits. The silver ribbon of the Amazon River continued to flow through the green canvas while smaller streams also flowed through various parts of the jungle. River dolphins and other water creatures continued swimming about in the snakes of water, either playing or waiting for prey. A year after Carla and company's perilous but successful quest to Guyana to find the treasure in the legendary isolated jungle enclosed in a giant ravine inhabited by bizarre birds and other supposed-to-be-extinct animals in Guyana (now named Jurassic Jungle) based on one of the Navyfeather Clan's myths of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure, and the subsequent rescue of the sanctuary's status as a protected reserve, the sanctuary continued to live on with that status.

However, quite a lot has changed over the time period. Carla, Bia and Tiago and all their friends were now adolescents and were not far from young adults. Some of the group had become close boyfriends and girlfriends either with each other or with other macaws not normally a part of Carla, Bia and Tiago's inner circle. Carla had become the girlfriend of Justin while Tiago had become the boyfriend of Matilda. Bia had also become the girlfriend of Virgil for he had deeply cared about her and loved to listen to her scientific facts, though he did not agree with certain things like evolution which Bia did not mind. As for Charlotte, she had become the girlfriend of Músculo, while Jojo, Felix and Lavender, together with one of their and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil's second cousins Tyler, the brother of Ricardo and the older son of Nuvem and Cassia, had become couples with Kira, Turquesa, Garrett and a female macaw named Aurora respectively. Furthermore, Blu and Jewel's two latest additions to their family, and the two younger siblings of Carla, Bia and Tiago, another son named Luke and daughter named Linda (named by Blu in honour of his human companion), had grown into young chicks. They had hatched around a month after Carla and company had returned from their big quest.

In one part of the Spix macaw tribe's territory, Carla and the other Spix macaws were having some mangoes and Brazil nuts brought back from the Brazil nut grove and either chatting or playing with some of their friends from the other tribes and clans. In the talking group, each macaw male sat with his girlfriend. Justin sat next to Carla while Tiago sat with Matilda. Tyler and Ricardo sat with Tyler's girlfriend Aurora while Jojo, Músculo, Garrett and Felix sat with Kira, Charlotte, Lavender and Turquesa respectively. Nearby, Bia and her boyfriend Virgil were playing soccer with some other macaws, among them Ganymede and his blue-and-gold macaw girlfriend Mimas, and Callisto, Blueberry and her boyfriend Aiden, and Charon and his girlfriend Neytiri. Also with them were Mimas's six siblings Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus, and Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon, Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette, and Azul and a female blue-throated macaw named Fernanda, and also Alessandro the chestnut-fronted macaw and Mariposa the blue-headed macaw. Also present was Benjamin, one of Felipe and Pearl's sons and offspring. Some of the macaws have become couples with either each other or some other macaws. Dione had become a couple with a male blue-and-gold macaw named Porthos who was one of the four macaws owned by someone from Guyana and had been released into the Sanctuary de Amazon, along with a male great green macaw named Aramis, a male Lear's macaw named Squaw'tagnan, and a male green-winged macaw named Athos and the leader of the quartet. Aramis, Squaw'tagnan and Athos had become the boyfriends of Miranda, Phoebe and Callisto respectively though Athos was a green-winged macaw and Callisto was a scarlet. After the four had been released into the wild a year ago, Athos had become part of the red tribe where Felipe trained him in jungle survival, Aramis joined the green macaw tribe where Alonso trained him, Porthos had joined the blue-and-gold macaw tribe where Soleado had trained him and Squaw'tagnan had joined the Lear's macaw tribe and was trained by Valentino. It was Squaw'tagnan who had been the reason Tulio and his assistant went to Guyana earlier due to him being a Lear's macaw. However, the owner had decided to release Athos, Porthos and Aramis as well since the three were close friends, like brothers, to the young Lear's macaw. Since their joining of the Sanctuary de Amazon, the four macaws had become friends with Carla and company, especially with Miranda, Dione, Phoebe and Callisto, but their friendship had soon evolved into a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship as time went past.

Carla and Justin shot the group of playing macaws a smiling look and saw Europa, Io, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre.

'Those five red macaws haven't met someone special yet,' thought Carla. However, she then remembered Sheldon who had asked Io out while Alexandre and Estelle had just become a couple and that Europa and Byron had also begun dating. As for Phobos and Deimos, they had decided against having girlfriends much like Ricardo, Tyler's younger brother and they also did not want chicks in the future since they felt that they would pass on their small size if they did, like how they had inherited Chiquitita's small size. As the fruit shell ball shot towards the talkers, Callisto shot in and headed it to send it flying in another direction, much to the amusement of Carla and the others with her.

"They sure are enjoying themselves, aren't they?" said Charlotte. Músculo then saw Aiden, who was being a goalie for one of the team's goals set up using two yellow reef-like flower clusters hung to a branch above him, stretch his wing for the ball only to miss it. The ball had been sent in by Aramis.

"Goooaaaall for Team Ganymede," shouted a referee, who was Alessandro. Next to him was a female chestnut-fronted macaw with whom he had become close friends with. Aiden let loose a mock-frustrated groan as Ganymede's team cheered.

"Aramis certainly is good at soccer, isn't he?" said Garrett as he sat next to Lavender, "He told us that he used to play it a lot back in his hometown."

Lavender watched as Aramis's teammates including Ganymede tossed him into the air and chanted his name while he waved his wings in the air in celebration of his goal. Aiden had left to fetch the fruit-shell ball. Then Lavender's eyes travelled to the female chestnut-fronted macaw who sat with Alessandro.

"That's Rhiannon, Alessandro's soon-to-be girlfriend," said Garrett, "Mariposa's also become close friends with a male blue-headed macaw from her group named Kiawe."

And with that, he shot the said macaw who flew alongside Mariposa. He was in the other team with Mariposa and Aiden and was retrieving the ball for the next game. Kiawe looked very tough and had a very unusual crest which was just as unique as Aiden's Mohawk-like crest, Felix's three-layered set of head feathers, and Venus and Matilda's pigtails. The feather clusters were wavy and pointed straight up, giving Kiawe the appearance of having flames on his head, and he had one large one on this crown and a few smaller ones around his head.

"It is obvious that some of the others of our group had also become boyfriends and girlfriends as well," said Carla as she watched Kiawe fly to the centre of the playing field with Ganymede and as Rhiannon prepared to start up the next game. Carla nodded to Titan and Brooke and said, "Those two have become a couple, as had Charon and Neytiri, Titania and a male military macaw named Ash, and Azul and Fernanda, a friend of his and his brothers Aurelio and Wilbur from his clan…"

"And also Oberon and Tethys," said Justin as he watched Tethys nuzzle lovingly against Oberon as the pair prepared for the next game, "And Umbriel and Benjamin."

Then at Rhiannon's mimic of a whistle, the game was off once again as the ball flew upward into the air. Ganymede raised a talon and kicked it as soon as it came back down before Kiawe had a chance to kick it. Then a few dozen colourful comets took off after the fruit shell ball as it rocketed in a certain direction.

"You know something, when those two, and Ganymede and Mimas become mates and have chicks," said Tiago, "There's going to be some interesting results with their offspring."

"Bia told me that the offspring of a scarlet and a blue-and-gold macaw are called Catalina macaws," said Kira, "We've got a glimpse of one during this year's trip to Rio."

"They're very colourful macaws," said Jojo. He then frowned. "Mind you, different-species pairings are quite uncommon, aren't they?"

"So are hybrid offspring," said Charlotte, "The only two hybrids I know of are Sheldon, a cross between a scarlet macaw and a green-winged macaw, and Falkor the milicinth macaw who is a hyacinth/military hybrid."

Músculo then shot Sheldon a smiling look as he dribbled the ball with some of Aramis's team, among them Aramis himself, in hot pursuit.

"Well, since his girlfriend Io is a scarlet macaw," he said, "If those two become mates and have offspring, their chicks are going to be, um, three-quarters scarlet and one-quarter green-winged."

Charlotte smiled and ate a mango.

"How did you learn that?" she asked.

"Bia and Ganymede explained a little bit of genetics and inheritance to me," said the muscularly built Spix macaw.

"You seem to have some basic understanding of the complicated terms Bia and Ganymede tend to use," said Garrett, "I can never get what those two are saying sometimes."

The others tittered in agreement. Then Matilda said, "Oh, speaking of couples, I've heard that Eustace, the older son of Sunset and Travis, has become a couple with Serena the sulfur-crested cockatoo while Rosa has become Clemont the citron-crested cockatoo's girlfriend back in Rio."

"Really?" said Garrett. Tyler and Ricardo looked at each other and smiled.

"I'm so glad for them," said Turquesa.

"What about your falcon friends, Orion and Velocity?" asked Tyler.

"Have they found someone special yet?" asked Ricardo.

"Not yet," said Justin, "Though the two have met a female peregrine falcon their age but Orion is just friends with her."

"We'll never know if that friendship would develop into romance," said Carla. The others murmured in wonder. Then Tiago made a glum sigh.

"Speaking of boyfriend and girlfriend, I've heard that Aguamarina, the daughter of Mom's bitter rival Mertle has also become a couple with a male macaw with an equally bad attitude as well. She, her mother and some of the others have evicted themselves from the Spix macaw tribe but have received a real good shouting at from Pop-Pop shortly after our return from our trip to Guyana."

"They've promised that they'd never return to the ravine," said Carla, a frown on her face, "But they're as arrogant as ever, that bunch, always showing off to other birds and gossiping and whatnot."

Aurora who sat next to Tyler rolled her eyes and muttered, "Huh, I could never stand that girl one bit. Her attitude stank. I'm glad that brat Aguamarina doesn't live with us anymore."

"Yeah and at least Aguamarina, Mertle and the others similar to them won't be a bother to the rest of our tribe or most of our neighbours pretty much anymore," said Tiago with a frown. The others nodded in agreement. Just then the sounds of flapping wings from larger macaws reached the ears of the group. At this, Carla, Justin, Tiago, Matilda, Jojo, Lavender, Felix and Garrett, Músculo, Charlotte, Turquesa, Kira, Tyler, Aurora and Ricardo looked up and saw two large navy blue birds fly towards them.

"Hey, Uncle Neptune, Aunt Ultramarine," said Tiago with a smile, "What are you both doing here?"

The two hyacinth macaws approached the group of Spix macaws and heftily perched on a branch before them, making it shake slightly due to their weight.

"Just dropping by," said Neptune with a sunny smile on his black beak.

"Yeah, we thought we'd check on you," said Ultramarine, "But that's not the main reason why we've come."

She then stole a glance at the soccer players as they continued chasing after the ball and then looked back at Carla's group.

"Eduardo, your grandfather," said Ultramarine to Carla and Tiago, "has a special surprise for the lot of you and he would like you come to the tribe, clan and small group leaders' Meeting Tree. Your parents, as well as the parents of the rest of the group and also the leaders of each of the flocks of birds on the Sanctuary de Amazon including Andromeda and her boyfriend Eragon are also present."

"Really?" asked Jojo, Kira looking on with surprise.

"What's the surprise?" asked Tiago eagerly. Neptune raised his large wings.

"You'll have to wait until near sunset," he said, "That's all we want you to know. Anyway, if you don't mind, I want to talk to the soccer players over there."

"I hope you enjoy your little chat but you must be at the Meeting Tree by this evening," said Ultramarine and with that, she and Neptune opened their large wings and took off for the soccer group. Aurora smiled in amusement.

"Many of the Navyfeather hyacinth macaws sure do have a cracking sense of humour," she tittered. Carla, Justin, Tiago and Matilda watched as Neptune and Ultramarine called the soccer players together after apologising for interrupting their game. Bia, Virgil and the others just smiled in acceptance to the apology and paused their game, before flying over to the two hyacinth macaws and gathering around them. Carla's group exchanged glances.

"Well, I wonder what surprise is waiting for us," said Carla with a smile to the others.

 **Evening at the Meeting Tree**

As the sun sank slowly towards the western sky, its rays painting the clouds a brilliant combination of yellows, pinks and oranges, Carla, Bia and Tiago were on their way to the Meeting Tree with their friends. With them were their cousin Kira, and friends Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette, and Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon, Triton, Indigo and Blueberry, and Aiden, Charon, Quincy, Flor, and Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur. Also with the group were Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Tyler, Ricardo, Alessandro, Mariposa and Estelle, Byron and Sheldon (three of the friends of Io and her three siblings and Alexandre and his two brothers), Brooke and Bastian (friends of Titan and his six siblings), Neytiri, Juan and Victor (friends of Charon and his three siblings and Triton and Indigo) and Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo (friends of Carla, Justin, Jojo and their siblings and of Tyler and Ricardo). Tiago and Carla were impatient and kept calling to the group to hurry up, much to the annoyance of the others. As the small flock flew through the air, the jungle awash with the glistening shafts of the evening sun, Charlotte nuzzled her crown against Músculo's side.

"Oh, the scenery sure is romantic, isn't it?" she crooned dreamily.

"Yeah, it always is on a sunset with few clouds," said Justin. Umbriel also smiled and gazed at the setting sun.

"Benjamin has invited me to have a little sunset trip out together," she cooed also dreamily.

"It sure is surprising that you've chosen to become the girlfriend of a scarlet macaw," said Oberon as he flew alongside Miranda, Ariel and Titania.

"When Mr Felipe heard that his oldest son had begun dating you, he was very surprised indeed," said Miranda. Ariel and Titania wittered in agreement.

Umbriel shot her three sisters and only brother a slight glare. "Hey, just because I'm the girlfriend of a scarlet macaw doesn't mean that it's a bit odd," she snapped slightly before nodding to Ganymede and Mimas and then to Oberon as Tethys flew close beside him. "After all, Ganymede and Mimas are a couple as are you and Tethys, Oberon."

"That is true, Umbriel," said Oberon, "But green and scarlet macaw pairings are very rare indeed."

"I actually don't know what Benjamin saw in you," said Ariel, "But he seems to like your personality and your love of brightly coloured insects like butterflies."

"He seems to like butterflies too," said Titania, "So it seems that the two of you have something in common."

Umbriel just shrugged and continued flying on, Oberon, Ariel, Titania and Miranda exchanging smiling glances. In the front of the group, Carla, Bia and Tiago who led the others continued flying ahead. However, two of them, especially Tiago, were showing little patience and kept flying faster than the others.

"Hey, slow down, you two," shouted Matilda, "Some of us can't fly as fast as you, you know."

"Come on, you lot," shouted Tiago, "Hurry up. I wanna see this surprise."

Matilda, Justin, Charlotte and Virgil and Kira rolled their eyes in irritation at the young male macaw's lack of patience, as did some of the others.

"If that Spix macaw lad tells us to 'hurry up' one more time," muttered Alessandro, a mischievous smile creeping into his beak, "I'm gonna play a prank on him by painting his face with bright yellow flower pollen paint while he's asleep."

"I think he might get back at you if you do that," said Kira.

"He is starting to get a little bossy, if you ask me," muttered Mariposa irritably.

"Yeah, agree," muttered Aiden as he flew alongside Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor.

"Not to mention flying too fast for some of us," added Alexandre as Estelle, Phobos and Deimos flanked him.

"Huh, whenever a surprise is waiting for us," said Estelle, "Tiago sure loves to rush ahead to see it."

"Well, I think the vicinity of the Meeting Tree is melting into view now," said Phobos. At this, all heads of the group looked up and sure enough, the familiar surrounding trees growing around the large Meeting Tree emerged from behind some regular trees of the jungle.

"Here we are, folks," said Carla. Tiago whooped in excitement and then rocketed off ahead, a blue blur through the trees.

"Hey, Tiago!" shouted Deimos, "Wait for us!"

"He's had too many sugary fruits, I think," said Estelle in a whisper.

"Or it's the excitement of the surprise that's propelling him," said Alexandre. Then Matilda whizzed by.

"Well, I'm beginning to feel the excitement grow, Alex," she shouted, "So let's head for the Meeting Tree."

And with that, she dashed off, followed by nine aqua blue and yellow comets as Titan, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Bastian and Brooke, along with a red comet from Ganymede as he flew after Mimas, followed Matilda. The others, however, flew at their usual pace. Bia, Phobos and Deimos especially did so for they could not fly very fast due to their small wings though Bia was larger than the two older brothers of Alexandre. As the flock of macaws followed Tiago, Matilda, Titan and his siblings, Ganymede and Brooke to the Meeting Tree and then perched onto one of the branches from the massive tree, Carla began to look around. It was dark and deserted.

"Oh, aye," said Carla perplexed, "Where is everyone?"

Justin stepped up beside her and also scanned the dark branches. Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda and Virgil did the same. Jojo, Lavender, Felix, Turquesa, Charlotte, Tyler, Ricardo, Músculo and Garrett also gathered around and scanned the dark branches.

"Well, we've definitely come to the right place," said Jojo, shaking his head a bit to shift a feather from his mop-like crest out of his face. Suddenly, lights exploded from the branches as firefly lanterns appeared and the entire Meeting Tree erupted into life, making Carla and the others jump out of their skins.

"SUURRRPRIIIIISSSE!" shouted a flock of birds of various species, most of them macaws. Carla, Bia and Tiago clasped a wing to their chests and gasped while the others looked on, eyes wide with shock as the flock then erupted into applause as they gazed happily at the group. The macaws present included Blu and Jewel with Eduardo and Mimi, Zephyr, Venus, Brisa, Roberto, Nuvem, Cassia, Maximillian (Turquesa's father) and the parents of Garrett andMúsculo, and Zephyr and Brisa's mother Gael and Nuvem's father Viento from the Spix macaw tribe; Felipe, Pearl and their three offspring Benjamin, Regina and Alfonso, and Jupiter, Ruby, Mars, Chiquitita, Sheldon's parents Ramon and Dani and some other red macaws from the red macaw tribe; Mercury, Sapphire, Valentino, Rosalind, Waldo (Sapphire's half-brother) and his mate Monique and some other Lear's macaws from the Lear's macaw tribe; Saturn, Orquidea, Soleado and Zoie and their offspring Tobias, Amarillo and Bromelia and some other blue-and-gold macaws who were Orquidea's friends from the blue-and-gold macaw tribe; Uranus, Esmeralda and Alonso and Verde with their offspring Martese and Lima and some of Esmeralda's childhood friends including Lewin and Luis the twin brothers from the green macaw tribe; Neptune, Ultramarine, Flavio, Marinho and Demetrio, Violeta and their relatives and friends from both the Navyfeather and Bluewing Clans; and Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Rudi, Valeria and some glaucous macaws from the glaucous macaw tribe and also Ceres, Cobalto, Anita and Reynaldo and some blue-throated macaws from the blue-throated macaw clan, alongside some blue-headed macaws and chestnut-fronted macaws including Murphy and Abigail, the parents of Alessandro as well as Rhiannon, Alessandro's girlfriend and Mariposa's parents Skyla and Jairo and Mariposa's boyfriend Kiawe. Some of the attendees present had had either eggs or young chicks back home but they had been left in the care of babysitters, and Blu and Jewel's two second-brood chicks, Linda and Luke, had been left under the care of Roxie the Spix macaw team's scoremarker while their parents were absent.

Also present, to the surprise of Carla and company were Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa and Clemont and Serena the cockatoos, Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Velocity the peregrine falcons and some of the archaeobirds and their bat-bird mounts, among them Andromeda and her mate Eragon, her brothers Ophiuchus and Anakin and cousin Spock. Falkor the milicinth macaw, Fedor the hoatzin and Ámbar the lutino blue-and-gold macaw based on her lack of blue and green colouration in her back plumage were also there. As the enormous gathering clapped their wings, Benjamin flew over to meet Umbriel and greeted her with a hug while Kiawe and Rhiannon met Mariposa and Alessandro respectively.

"Well done, you lot," called Eduardo, "You have timed your arrival perfectly."

Carla, Bia and Tiago and Kira, together with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, Jojo, Felix and Lavender shot each other delighted and amazed looks.

"We've set up a feast to celebrate our first anniversary of your trip to Guyana and successfully saving the sanctuary from losing its protected status," shouted Blu. The term 'anniversary' was a very advanced human term that was very familiar to the birds that had spent most of their lives living next to humans. Carla, Bia and Tiago and Kira, at this, rushed over to Blu and Jewel and hugged them. Justin, Matilda, Charlotte and Virgil also flew over to Zephyr and Venus while Jojo, Lavender and Felix flew over to Brisa and Roberto.

"Thanks, Dad, Mom," cried Carla excitedly. Nearby, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto hugged Jupiter and Ruby while Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre hugged Chiquitita and Mars. Saturn, Uranus, Mercury, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and their respective mates Orquidea, Esmeralda, Sapphire, Ultramarine, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli all hugged their first-brood offspring as well. Then Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan, the four new additions to Carla and company's circle of friends who were also present, flew over to Callisto, Dione, Miranda and Phoebe respectively and hugged them as well. Porthos lovingly nuzzled his beak against Dione's while Aramis swung Miranda around in once circle. Nearby, Neytiri and Charon, together with Indigo, Triton, Victor and Blueberry, Aiden, Juan, Quincy and Flor smiled as they looked on.

"Those four certainly do make great couples, don't you think?" said Blueberry.

"So do Umbriel and Benjamin over there, despite the obvious differences in their species," said Aiden. At this, the glaucous and young hyacinth macaws gazed at Benjamin and Umbriel as they nuzzled their crowns lovingly with Felipe, Pearl, Regina and Alfonso looking on.

"I wonder what their chicks will look like if they become mates," said Quincy. At this, the others shot him a glare, making him flinch. However, Ganymede and Mimas walked in.

"Well, their offspring will be called 'verde macaws'," said Ganymede, "We have only seen one of them once during our trip to Rio last year. They've got fantastically colourful plumages."

"Well, I look forward to seeing Benjamin and Umbriel's offspring if they do become mates," said Blueberry. The others nodded in agreement. Then as Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira broke their hug with their parents Blu and Jewel (or in Kira's case, uncle and aunt), Andromeda called their names.

"Look what we've made for you and your friends," said Androwemda.

"It was Eragon's design," said Ophiuchus. At this, Carla and her two siblings and cousin Kira and their closest friends flew over to the archaeobirds as Anakin, Spock and Ophiuchus's mate, a female metallic green-coloured archaeobird named Honeydew, presented the group with a large cake-like construction made from various fruits and nuts. It was a marvellously designed product, with different layers made from different fruit. The base continued mangoes, while the upper layers consisted slices of starfruit, guavas, papayas, pineapples, and some other fruit. The top was sprinkled with crushed nuts and intact berries.

"Wow," cried Carla, her eyes sparkling with awe. Then a male metallic yellow and orange archaeobird stepped in.

"I call it the 'Pirámide de Frutas' or Fruit Pyramid," said Eragon, the archaeobird. Since Andromeda's clan's settling into the expanded area of the Sanctuary de Amazon a year ago, Blu, Jewel, Flavio and some other macaws had given the archaeobirds language lessons in Spanish and Portuguese and since then, the archaoebirds had taken up the two languages, though they knew very little French and German as well which they likely learned from a previous group of outsiders. As Carla and her friends gathered around the enormous 'Fruit Pyramid' to marvel at its artistic construction, Cometa walked in.

"It's to be part of the feast for our celebration of your heroic journey," she said. Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil looked up at the peregrine falcon and her family and smiled. Standing behind Cometa were Lightning flanked by Orion and Velocity, both now young adult falcons with the characteristic slate grey backs and black-spotted ivory fronts. Before, they had both been brown and beige but now that juvenile plumage had been replaced as they grew. Travis and his family stood to the right of the three falcons. Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Kira and Aiden, together with Titan and his siblings went over to the birds and greeted them.

"I see you guys have come too," said Justin as he clapped wings with Orion and Velocity.

"Oh, yeah," said Travis nearby, "It's because Milo and Velocity had participated on the journey with you guys."

"So we have decided to come all the way here to celebrate," said Sunset and with that she gazed down at Milo. Eustace, Rosa, Clemont and Serena gathered around him as he smiled widely.

"How are Veggie, Broccoli, Collette, Dash and Ginger doing back home?" asked Charlotte.

"Dash and Ginger's final brood of puppies have all been sold," said Sunset, "The last to go was their only daughter of the third brood, Rosie. She's just been sold on the day of our departure."

"Have Dash and Ginger had any more litters lately?" asked Matilda.

"They're too old to have any more puppies," said Eustace. He then gazed at the others with an awed look. "How old are those two now? Twenty years or something?"

"Probably around about that, son," said Travis. He then gazed at his plumage and sighed as he observed the slivers of grey strewn through his snow-white plumage. "Speaking of age, Sunset and I have started showing signs of aging as well. Look at all the grey feathers I'm getting."

Sunset also gazed at her pale pink and salmon plumage and observed the silvery streaks as well.

"Yep, we're getting old alright," she said.

"Hey, you still look as brightly coloured and as vibrant as you once were when you were younger to us, Travis and Sunset," said Lightning. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Kira, Aiden, and Titan, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus just looked at each other and shrugged.

"And how are Veggie, Collette and Broccoli and also James at his club with Nevado and Pelusa?" asked Mimas.

"They're doing well," said Rosa, "James's cat-and-dog club has become a huge success."

"Nico and Pedro are impressed by his progress with that club," said Milo, "As are we."

"Avellana's ecology classes are also going well," said Serena.

"And as for Veggie, Broccoli and Collette," said Clemont, "They're doing fine as well. However, Veggie looks well on in his years."

"Collette and Broccoli also admire their medals Bia, Miranda and Ganymede had made for them for helping you guys get to Guyana," said Velocity. At this, Bia smiled as did Mimas as she gazed at Ganymede and Miranda as they talked with Spock and Anakin. Then suddenly, a squawk sounded.

"Oh, it's time for our celebration to start, folks," said Cometa as she realised the sound, "Let's get ready for it."

With that, the group opened their wings and took off. As they left, Kira and Aiden looked at Titan and his six siblings.

"Too bad those two cat friends of yours cannot come to our celebration," said Kira sympathetically.

"Well, they're not flying animals like us, Kira," said Titan sadly. Then he heard Brooke call his name. At this, he shot a gaze at his girlfriend ahead. "Gotta go," he said to the glaucous and Spix macaws and with that, he dashed off for Brooke. Mimas then left for Ganymede while Dione left to find Porthos and Tethys left to find Oberon.

"Heh, we sure have some odd pairings in our family," said Rhea as she watched Mimas find Ganymede and Tethys find Oberon.

"Yeah but to see a scarlet macaw pair with a great green or Buffon's macaw," said Aiden as he gazed at Umbriel and Benjamin together, "We were surprised. You don't often have pairings like that in the wild based on what Bia and Ganymede told us."

Rhea, Kira, Enceladus and Iapetus nodded in agreement.

Soon, the air around the Meeting Tree was decorated with firefly lanterns. Carla had set up her Ipod and music was playing from it. While dozen of birds danced in the air, the tribe, clan and small flock leaders were having a discussion. Eduardo was talking with Blu and Jewel about their taking over as leaders of the Spix macaw tribe as he was soon to retire, Mimi was asleep on a lone branch, snoring her head off, Zephyr and Venus, Mercury, Sapphire, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn,. Orquidea and Brisa and Roberto were talking about their new clutches of eggs. Only recently, Zephyr and Venus had laid a clutch of two eggs, having finally gone ahead with having a second brood. The other couples apart from Mars and Chiquitita who had already had Gabrielle (who was being babysat back in the red tribe's home patch) have also gone ahead with having another brood but unlike their first broods, especially for Saturn and Orquidea, the second broods were smaller. Mercury and Sapphire were expecting a single egg while Jupiter and Ruby had a clutch of two. Saturn and Orquidea's brood was two eggs while Uranus and Esmeralda's clutch was one. Neptune and Ultramarine were expecting one egg while Pluto and Lapis Lazuli were also expecting one, and Ceres and Cobalto were expecting two eggs. Roberto and Brisa had also recently had a clutch of two eggs and were very happy about it. After all, their first-brood offspring had already left the nest now. Andromeda and Eragon, the new leaders of the archaeobird clan, were also expecting two eggs and were soon to be parents.

Andromeda and her clan were very happy in their new home but over the past year, some more archaeobirds had come from Guyana with some bat-bird mounts and had settled in with Andromeda's group. This was to ensure a healthy gene pool for the new clan and the small bat-birds they used for flying mounts since small populations were prone to genetic problems as Blu, Bia and Ganymede knew very well. Furthermore, Andromeda's clan and the bat-birds had been discovered by one of Tulio's groups of ornithologists, resulting in a newsflash about their species, which was deemed extinct with the dinosaurs, being discovered alive in the Amazon rainforest. A series of studies had been carried out on Andromeda's group, which the archaeobirds were at first wary of but they soon learned to be trusting of humans since these humans cared for the environment. From the books and articles published, more money had been made which had been used in the sanctuary's maintenance and further studies of the rare animals that lived on the Sanctuary de Amazon. Andromeda's clan's species had also been given a scientific name; _Microraptor modern_ for their species strongly resembled the fossilised _Microraptor_ remains. Thus the archaeobird and the bat-birds had been called 'living fossils' like the coelacanth.

While the celebrations continued, Bia was talking with Anakin as well as Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan.

"It must have been emotional to leave your owner behind was it?" asked Bia.

"It was," said Athos, a tear in his eye, "We had been reluctant to leave Tommy behind but we knew it was for the better, especially for Squaw'tagnan here because of his species."

The young Lear's macaw sighed. "We shall miss him," said Squaw'tagnan with a sigh."

"I remember you guys telling us about the wonderful and dangerous adventure you've been on to save the sanctuary," said Porthos, a muscularly built gblue-and-gold macaw. His eyes then travelled to Anakin, "And seeing these strange feathered creatures still alive must have been a bit of a shock."

"I thought birds like him have gone extinct since the dinosaurs," said Aramis. Bia smiled and nodded to the young metallic blue archaeobird. "That was initially thought until his clan had been discovered," she said, "They've been named living fossils."

"I thought they would have discovered those archaeobird creatures in that giant ravine in Guyana," said Porthos confused. Anakin, however, shook his head.

"That place is incredibly dangerous to any outsider," he said, "Because of highly dangerous predatory animals such as the fan-backed lizards and predatory bat-birds. They have been known for attacking humans that have touched down in that area and even eating them though the documented cases are incredibly rare…"

The four macaws flinched in disgust and revulsion.

"That's horrible," murmured Athos.

"There's no way we'd like to visit there," said Porthos.

"And those giant terrifying pterosaurs," shuddered Aramis, "I could do without them chasing us thanks."

"Miranda was almost eaten by one, wasn't she?" asked Squaw'tagnan. Bia nodded. Several weeks after Carla and company, together with Blu and the others, had returned from Guyana and had successfully delivered the fanny packs and bags of treasure to Tulio and his gang to sell, resulting in the Sanctuary de Amazon being saved from the debt crisis, Carla, Bia and Tiago had filled the adults in on what they had encountered throughout their adventure to Guyana. They mentioned how they managed to drive off a harpy eagle during a frantic escape from Ilosovic and his gang after first meeting them, how Jojo had lashed at a fan-backed lizard (or _Dimetrodon_ as known to Blu, Bia and Ganymede) when it threatened Anakin and Kira, as well as how Velocity had a very narrow escape from a large _Tiktaalik_ croc-fish, and Lavender's brave and risky manoeuvre in rescuing Miranda by viciously attacking a predatory bat-bird. Carla had also told of how her gang had been attacked by Ilosovic a second time, how Kira and Aiden had revealed their treasure to the gangsters in an attempt to prevent the evil group from slaughtering them only for the plans to go wrong, resulting in Carla and company's near demise at being eaten by some predatory bat-birds only for Milo to arrive with a rescue party in time. It truly had been a perilous and exciting adventure for Carla and company, and those that chose to remain behind, such as Charlotte and Felix, had regretted not going now and had apologised for lying to their elders but in the end, everything turned out well. Lessons had been learnt, especially about lying and how it was unacceptable, especially if someone could have been in danger.

While Bia continued talking with Anakin, Aramis, Porthos, Squaw'tagnan and Athos, Virgil and Io flew up with the latter's Ipod. Io then placed the Ipod onto a nearby branch, set it up and onto loud and selected a song. Then at Virgil's nod, Io pressed the 'play' button. As the song, which was 'St Elmo's Fire' by John Parr from the 1980s, Virgil darted forward and seized Bia by a wing. Bia gasped in surprised as she was pulled into one wing and then spun into the other, much to the amusement of Anakin, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan. Then next, Bia found herself gazing into a pair of affectionate blue-green eyes of Virgil.

"Seriously, Virgil what are you doing!?" asked Bia in a voice tone mixed with irritation and amusement. Virgil replied by swinging Bia into his other wing again.

"Just go with the beat, Bia," he crooned romantically. Bia, realising that Virgil wanted to dance with her, smiled. Then within seconds, the two Spix macaws launched into an elaborate dance sequence to the song, combining elegant twists and turns in mid-air and spins together. As the couple danced, the others came round and formed an audience. Blu and Jewel stood by Eduardo and Mimi (who had woken up from her nap), Zephyr, Venus, Roberto, Brisa, Nuvem and Cassia stood together and nodded their heads to the song's beat; Mars, Chiquitita, Jupiter, Saturn, Pearl, Felipe and the other red macaws with them stood by the blue-and-gold macaws including Saturn, Orquidea, Zoie and Soleado. Next to them, the green, Lear's, blue-throated, hyacinth, glaucous, blue-headed and chestnut-fronted macaws including Uranus, Esmeralda, Mercury, Sapphire, Neptune, Ultramarine, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Alessandro and Rhiannon, Abigail and Murphy, and Mariposa, Kiawe, Jairo and Skyla, and also Travis, Cometa and their families and also Andromeda and the other archaeobird attendees also gathered round to watch the amazing dance of Bia and Virgil. Carla and Justin, Matilda and Tiago, Charlotte and Músculo, Jojo and Kira, Turquesa and Felix, Garrett and Lavender, Tyler and Aurora and Ricardo stood by dancing with the beat as they watched Bia and Virgil continue to dance. Next to them, Phobos, Deimos, and Alexandre and Estelle also danced. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and their respective partners, Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos also danced, as did Enceladus, Tethys who stood with Oberon, Dione who stood with Porthos, Rhea, Titan who stood with Brooke, Iapetus, Bastian and Miranda who stood with Aramis, Ariel, Umbriel who stood with Benjamin and his siblings Regina and Alfonso, and Titania who stood with her military macaw boyfriend Ash, and also Triton, Indigo, Victor and Penelope, Charon, Neytiri, Juan, Blueberry, Aiden, Quicny and Flor, Azul and his girlfriend Fernanda, and brothers Aurelio and Wilbur, and Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Jasmine and Annette also stood around the dancing Bia and Virgil and danced themselves.

Bia and Virgil then both did an impressive sequence of moves from the Spix tribe's theme song 'Beautiful Creatures' to the second chorus of the song and as it came to the bridge, the two flew off to one side so that some of the other couples could get up onstage. Justin and Carla did and did an impressive twirl, much to the cheer of the crowd, followed by Tiago and Matilda, and Charlotte and Músculo, Jojo and Kira, Lavender and Garrett, Turquesa and Felix, and then Ganymede and Mimas and Aiden and Blueberry. Eustace and Serena also joined as did Rosa and Clemont. The eight couples all spun in sync and did a variety of other moves before finally returning to their seats and allowing Virgil and Bia to return. The couple then began to dance out the rest of the song. As they danced, Phobos picked up a hibiscus flower and tossed it to Bia and Virgil. Bia caught the flower in her beak and continued dancing with Virgil. Then after the song had come to a close, Bia and Virgil did a finishing pose, Bia leaning back over Virgil's knee and her wings outstretched and the hibiscus flower in her beak while Virgil had one wing in the air and the other under Bia's back. The audience all applauded.

 **And that's all, folks. This is the end of L of the BB and T. I'm impressed at how it turned out and is certainly better than the previous version. Now the next story, the sequel, is where Blu, Jewel and everyone else will be meeting their biggest ever challenge and threat yet: the attack of the flying foxes. Stay tuned for that sequel!**

 **VPVPVP**


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